First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,086 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 24,515 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.12% of Hilltop worth $2,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hilltop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 827.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Hilltop by 64.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HTH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hilltop from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of Hilltop stock opened at $29.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 0.87. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $35.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $29.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.36.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.37. Hilltop had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 5.18%. The company had revenue of $318.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Hilltop's payout ratio is currently 36.55%.

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.

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