Short Interest in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Rises By 33.3%

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 33.3% from the May 15th total of 840,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 257,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other Hilltop news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 3,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.91, for a total transaction of $112,940.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $299,100. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 28.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Teza Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 5.2% during the third quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 9,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 4.7% in 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 lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 1.3% in 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 lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 7.4% in 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 and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, TheStreet downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Hilltop Price Performance

Hilltop stock opened at $29.21 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.56. Hilltop has a 12-month low of $26.78 and a 12-month high of $35.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08 and a beta of 1.12.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $285.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.55 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 5.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

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.