King Luther Capital Management Corp Buys 23,600 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 153,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,600 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $5,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Hilltop by 236.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 282,852 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,247,000 after buying an additional 192,991 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Hilltop by 211.0% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 247,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,518,000 after buying an additional 168,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Hilltop in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,079,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Stephens lifted their price objective on Hilltop from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Hilltop in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment 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, Hilltop presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 9,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,657,989.28. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $77,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 8,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $304,220. This represents a 20.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,225 shares of company stock worth $1,436,516. 29.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of HTH opened at $38.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.48. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.35 and a 52 week high of $40.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.62 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.19%.

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.