Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Bought by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 31,060 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.23% of Hilltop worth $4,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTH. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 18.7% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 2.1% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $758,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Hilltop news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.97 per share, with a total value of $319,700.00. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 57,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,836,005.13. This trade represents a 21.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HTH traded up $0.0780 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.1280. The stock had a trading volume of 177,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,548. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85 and a beta of 0.87. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $34.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.45.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $303.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $310.18 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 8.90%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.29%.

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.