Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. by 45.1%, now owning 287,053 shares valued at $8.74 million.
• Hilltop reported $0.57 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates of $0.41, with a revenue of $303.31 million.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of 32.29%.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 45.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 287,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 235,450 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.45% of Hilltop worth $8,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hilltop by 0.8% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 52,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Hilltop by 4.4% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position 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 period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Hilltop by 2.1% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 24,552 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Hilltop by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,484 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Hilltop Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE HTH traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $34.23. 43,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,851. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.86. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $36.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.88.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $303.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $35.36 per share, for a total transaction of $353,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman owned 127,429 shares in the company, valued at $4,505,889.44. This represents a 8.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 60,000 shares of company stock worth $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.