Rafferty Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 31.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,509 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.12% of Hilltop worth $2,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Hilltop by 236.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after buying an additional 324,108 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Hilltop by 364.0% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,943,000 after acquiring an additional 282,852 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,247,000 after acquiring an additional 192,991 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 211.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 247,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,518,000 after acquiring an additional 168,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,079,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total transaction of $999,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 65,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,531,860.26. The trade was a 28.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.84, for a total value of $359,556.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 91,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,657,989.28. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of HTH opened at $37.47 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.88. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.35 and a 12 month high of $40.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 0.92.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.47% and a net margin of 10.19%.The business had revenue of $217.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.15 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 30.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HTH shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

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.