Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. by 26.6%, owning approximately $1.475 million worth of the company's stock after acquiring additional shares.
• Hilltop's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.57, surpassing estimates and reflecting a net margin of 8.90%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 32.29%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,183 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.08% of Hilltop worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in Hilltop in the first quarter valued at about $56,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Hilltop by 134.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,811 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Hilltop in the fourth quarter valued at about $193,000. Finally, Garrett Wealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Hilltop in the first quarter valued at about $201,000. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 464,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,937. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $35.63. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 0.88. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $31.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.63.

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

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Hilltop's payout ratio is 32.29%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $35.36 per share, with a total value of $353,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 127,429 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,505,889.44. This trade represents a 8.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 60,000 shares of company stock worth $2,022,800 over the last three months. Insiders own 29.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Hilltop Profile

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.