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

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.25, for a total value of $372,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 117,016 shares in the company, valued at $4,358,846. This trade represents a 7.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTH opened at $36.28 on Friday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.92 and a 1 year high of $40.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.87.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.32% and a net margin of 10.13%.The firm had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HTH shares. Zacks Research upgraded Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 171,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,747,000 after purchasing an additional 16,683 shares during the last quarter. Mangrove Partners IM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth about $987,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,064,000. Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 282,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 40,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 153,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 23,600 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.