Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 911,600 shares, a drop of 13.2% from the October 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 341,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hilltop Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:HTH traded down $0.16 on Monday, hitting $31.82. 198,720 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 318,646. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.52. The company has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 19.52 and a beta of 1.14. Hilltop has a 1 year low of $28.58 and a 1 year high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.09. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.72%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total value of $1,006,051.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. The trade was a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 17,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total value of $566,009.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 544,979 shares in the company, valued at $17,978,857.21. This represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Hilltop by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Hilltop by 1.7% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Hilltop by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 40,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hilltop by 5.9% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HTH. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Hilltop from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hilltop from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.50.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings Inc provides business and consumer banking services. It operates through three segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment offers savings, checking, interest-bearing checking, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; lines and letters of credit, home improvement and equity loans, loans for purchasing and carrying securities, term, agricultural and commercial real estate, equipment loans, and other lending products; and mortgage, commercial and industrial loans, and term and construction finance.