Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Shares Gap Down - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares gapped down — Hilltop opened at $36.71 after a $37.96 close and was last at $37.23, trading near its 50-day ($36.81) and 200-day ($35.44) moving averages with a market cap of $2.19B.
• Analyst outlook is mixed — one Buy, two Hold and one Sell produce an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.50, with recent notes ranging from a $39 target to a "strong sell."
• Fundamentals and corporate actions — Q1 EPS beat at $0.64 vs. $0.54 (revenue slightly below estimates), the firm declared a $0.20 quarterly dividend (2.2% yield), and insiders recently sold roughly 294,796 shares (~$11.2M).

Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $37.96, but opened at $36.71. Hilltop shares last traded at $37.2250, with a volume of 11,365 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Zacks Research lowered Hilltop from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Hilltop in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.50.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.6%

The company's fifty day moving average is $36.81 and its 200-day moving average is $35.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 0.92.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.10. Hilltop had a net margin of 10.13% and a return on equity of 7.32%. The firm had revenue of $300.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $304.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Hilltop's payout ratio is currently 30.30%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, major shareholder Gerald J. Ford sold 259,771 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.98, for a total value of $9,866,102.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $298,788.66. The trade was a 97.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.46, for a total value of $999,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 65,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,531,860.26. This trade represents a 28.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 294,796 shares of company stock worth $11,225,619 in the last 90 days. 29.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 236.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 461,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,044,000 after purchasing an additional 324,108 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Hilltop by 106.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 493,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,503,000 after buying an additional 255,141 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the third quarter valued at about $8,337,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 37.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 711,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,788,000 after buying an additional 194,287 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Hilltop by 32.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 796,277 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $24,247,000 after buying an additional 192,991 shares in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Company Profile

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.

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