Marshall Wace LLP Purchases Shares of 56,469 Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 56,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,617,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.09% of Hilltop as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTH. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 117,348 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,359,000 after buying an additional 10,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 199,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,712,000 after purchasing an additional 9,672 shares during the last quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Hilltop during the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Hilltop in the fourth quarter valued at about $477,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Hilltop by 3.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,455,000 after purchasing an additional 15,346 shares in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hilltop Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of HTH stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.93. 344,908 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 340,910. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $29.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.38. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.67 and a 1 year high of $35.32.

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

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HTH shares. Raymond James raised shares of Hilltop from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday.

Hilltop Company 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.