Rhodes Bobbitt Sells 10,000 Shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $377,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 107,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,039,854. This represents a 8.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE:HTH traded down $0.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.65. 301,624 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 293,548. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.84 and a 200 day moving average of $36.19. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.92 and a 12 month high of $40.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.89.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. The company had revenue of $300.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 30.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,044,000 after buying an additional 324,108 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 106.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after buying an additional 255,141 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,337,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,788,000 after buying an additional 194,287 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,247,000 after buying an additional 192,991 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings, Inc (NYSE: HTH) is a Dallas, Texas–based financial holding company offering commercial banking, mortgage lending and capital markets services through its three primary subsidiaries: PlainsCapital Corporation, PrimeLending and HilltopSecurities. PlainsCapital provides deposit, lending and treasury management solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and individuals. PrimeLending specializes in home purchase and refinance loans, serving retail, wholesale and correspondent channels.