Brokerages Set Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Target Price at $37.50

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.50.

HTH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Hilltop from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of HTH opened at $35.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.99. Hilltop has a 12-month low of $27.35 and a 12-month high of $40.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.92.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.23. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 7.47%. The firm 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 firm earned $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total value of $999,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,831 shares in the company, valued at $2,531,860.26. The trade was a 28.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total value of $9,866,102.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,788.66. This trade represents a 97.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 294,796 shares of company stock valued at $11,225,619 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 29.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 236.4% during the first 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Hilltop by 364.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 360,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,943,000 after acquiring an additional 282,852 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Hilltop by 106.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,503,000 after acquiring an additional 255,141 shares in the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,337,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 194,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.