Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James cut Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH opened at $30.09 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.13. Hilltop has a 12-month low of $26.67 and a 12-month high of $35.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is presently 39.08%.

Insider Activity

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,968. The trade was a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 187.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,443,000 after acquiring an additional 333,695 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Hilltop by 419.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 383,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,340,000 after buying an additional 309,858 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 90.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,594,000 after acquiring an additional 107,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,959,000 after acquiring an additional 89,724 shares in 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.