Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Given "Buy (B)" Rating at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Hilltop Holdings Inc. has received a "Buy (B)" rating from Weiss Ratings, while Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from "sell" to "hold".
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price set at $32.00.
• Insider activity includes Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel purchasing 10,000 shares, while CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 11,687 shares recently.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.00.

Hilltop Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of HTH opened at $32.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 0.87. Hilltop has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $36.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.15.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $303.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.18 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 6.46%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilltop will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, Chairman Jonathan S. Sobel bought 10,000 shares of Hilltop 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,505,889.44. This trade represents a 8.52% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Steve B. Thompson sold 11,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.09, for a total transaction of $363,348.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 109,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,408,645.42. This trade represents a 9.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,022,800. 29.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTH. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Hilltop by 4.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 33,409 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,117,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Hilltop by 41.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Hilltop during the second quarter valued at $310,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Hilltop by 6.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 155,293 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,713,000 after buying an additional 9,280 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Hilltop by 77.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 3,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company's stock.

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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