Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Receives $39.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.00.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HTH shares. Zacks Research upgraded Hilltop from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Hilltop in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings cut Hilltop from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Hilltop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, Director Rhodes R. Bobbitt sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total value of $380,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 87,016 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,306,608. This represents a 10.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,130,000. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,419,000 after buying an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Hilltop by 32.0% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,477,000 after acquiring an additional 27,203 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,788,000 after acquiring an additional 194,287 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Hilltop by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,623,000 after acquiring an additional 192,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:HTH opened at $39.72 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.52. The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.88. Hilltop has a 12 month low of $29.64 and a 12 month high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $306.18 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 32.59%.

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.