Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Stock Bumped Down to Underperform by Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial cut shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HTH. Weiss Ratings raised Hilltop from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Hilltop Stock Down 2.7%

NYSE HTH opened at $37.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.96. Hilltop has a twelve month low of $30.78 and a twelve month high of $40.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 0.89.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Hilltop had a return on equity of 7.40% and a net margin of 10.17%.The firm had revenue of $315.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.18 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Hilltop will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 32.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $194,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 25,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $994,870.80. This represents a 16.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,555 shares of company stock worth $2,087,714. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MQS Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 16,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 9.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings Inc is a Dallas, Texas-based financial services holding company that provides banking, mortgage lending and securities services through its subsidiaries. The company primarily serves individuals, businesses, government entities and institutional clients, with operations focused largely on the United States and particularly the Texas market.

PlainsCapital Bank, Hilltop’s banking subsidiary, offers commercial and consumer banking products, including loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and other financial services.