Brokerages Set Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Price Target at $39.00

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of HTH opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. Hilltop has a fifty-two week low of $29.20 and a fifty-two week high of $40.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $38.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.47. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 10.17%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 29.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,656. The trade was a 20.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $380,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,016 shares in the company, valued at $3,306,608. This trade represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,206,000. 5.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Hilltop by 156.7% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 81,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,772,000 after buying an additional 49,859 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Hilltop by 43.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 165,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,920,000 after buying an additional 49,900 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 39.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 286,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,247,000 after acquiring an additional 81,448 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop in the 1st quarter valued at $663,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 6.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 265,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,518,000 after acquiring an additional 15,503 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.