Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Price Target to $35.00

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $34.00 to $35.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Hilltop presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of HTH opened at $31.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.13. Hilltop has a fifty-two week low of $28.58 and a fifty-two week high of $35.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.62 and a 200 day moving average of $31.54.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $411.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.29 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Hilltop will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,968. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Hilltop by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,594,000 after buying an additional 107,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Hilltop by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,991,000 after buying an additional 17,477 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Hilltop by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,537,000 after buying an additional 19,936 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hilltop by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 793,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,832,000 after buying an additional 16,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Hilltop by 90.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 592,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,043,000 after buying an additional 281,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

About Hilltop

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.