Vanguard Group Inc. Has $164.49 Million Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. $HTH

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Hilltop Holdings stake by 3.4% in the fourth quarter but still owned 4.85 million shares, worth about $164.5 million, making it one of the company’s largest institutional holders.
• Hilltop’s latest quarterly results beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.64 EPS versus the $0.54 consensus, while revenue came in slightly below estimates at $300.5 million.
• Several analysts turned more positive on the stock, with Zacks upgrading Hilltop to strong-buy; the broader consensus now sits at Moderate Buy with a target price of $37.50.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,846,513 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 169,529 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.90% of Hilltop worth $164,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 870,474 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,247,000 after purchasing an additional 192,991 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 762,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,477,000 after purchasing an additional 27,203 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $23,788,000 after purchasing an additional 194,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,003 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $21,623,000 after purchasing an additional 192,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Hilltop from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Hilltop from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilltop presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE HTH opened at $37.77 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $36.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.72. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.92 and a 1 year high of $40.41.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $300.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.30%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In related news, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total transaction of $9,866,102.58. Following the sale, the insider owned 7,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,788.66. This trade represents a 97.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.00, for a total transaction of $76,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,656. The trade was a 20.18% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 29.90% of the company's stock.

About Hilltop

Hilltop Holdings, Inc NYSE: HTH is a Dallas, Texas–based financial holding company offering commercial banking, mortgage lending and capital markets services through its three primary subsidiaries: PlainsCapital Corporation, PrimeLending and HilltopSecurities. PlainsCapital provides deposit, lending and treasury management solutions to small and mid-sized businesses, professionals and individuals. PrimeLending specializes in home purchase and refinance loans, serving retail, wholesale and correspondent channels.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HTH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.