Denali Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 45,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,408,000. Denali Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Hilltop at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HTH. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 1.3% during the second 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 period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted 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 worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 4.7% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted 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 worth $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 647 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HTH shares. Stephens upped their target price on Hilltop from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hilltop from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Hilltop presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 17,157 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total transaction of $566,009.43. Following the sale, the director now owns 544,979 shares in the company, valued at $17,978,857.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 28.90% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of HTH stock opened at $32.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.22 and a 200-day moving average of $31.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 1.13. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.78 and a 12 month high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.05. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.30% and a net margin of 7.10%. The business had revenue of $297.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $283.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Hilltop’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

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.