Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 231,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,090 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.36% of Hilltop worth $7,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Hilltop by 1.3% during 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 period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% during the 2nd 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 during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 7.4% during the 1st 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 period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 17,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total value of $566,009.43. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 544,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,978,857.21. This trade represents a 3.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $31.98 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.51. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.58 and a 1-year high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.09. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. The business had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.