Bank of America Corp DE Acquires 104,879 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 104,879 Hilltop Holdings shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $4.1 million and representing a 0.18% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 57.13% of Hilltop.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive but cautious outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00. Hilltop recently exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.63 EPS versus the $0.49 consensus estimate.
• Hilltop raised its quarterly dividend to $0.22 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.88 dividend and a 2.3% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold 52,555 shares worth approximately $2.1 million over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 104,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,067,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.18% of Hilltop as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 276.4% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Hilltop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Hilltop from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Hilltop in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hilltop from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rhodes Bobbitt sold 5,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.80, for a total transaction of $194,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $994,870.80. This trade represents a 16.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 52,555 shares of company stock worth $2,087,714 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH stock opened at $38.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.84 and a 200-day moving average of $37.84. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $30.78 and a one year high of $40.41. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.14. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 7.40%. The business had revenue of $315.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $306.18 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Hilltop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.59%.

Hilltop Company Profile

Hilltop Holdings Inc is a Dallas-based financial services holding company that provides banking, mortgage lending and securities services through its operating subsidiaries. Its businesses serve individuals, businesses, financial institutions, government entities and other organizations.

PlainsCapital Bank, Hilltop's banking subsidiary, offers commercial and consumer banking products, including loans, deposit accounts, treasury management and wealth management services. The bank primarily serves customers in Texas through its branch network and related financial services operations.

Hilltop's other principal businesses include PrimeLending, a residential mortgage lender that originates and services home loans through a nationwide platform, and HilltopSecurities, a broker-dealer that provides investment banking, public finance, institutional brokerage, fixed-income trading and advisory services.

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