Insider Selling: Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Director Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $380,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 87,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,306,608. This trade represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Hilltop Stock Up 3.0%

HTH traded up $1.08 during trading on Thursday, hitting $37.21. 282,342 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 302,717. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 0.88. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.92 and a 1-year high of $40.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.31.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.32% and a net margin of 10.13%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.33 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 30.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mangrove Partners IM LLC acquired a new position in Hilltop during the third quarter worth $987,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Hilltop by 10.7% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 16,683 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Hilltop by 156.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 81,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,772,000 after purchasing an additional 49,859 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in Hilltop by 16.9% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 282,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 40,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Hilltop by 18.2% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 153,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 23,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

About Hilltop

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.