Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 484,909 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 87.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 484,909 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of Hilltop worth $2,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HTH. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Hilltop by 200.0% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,524 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 31.5% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Hilltop by 29.5% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Hilltop by 16.7% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Hilltop by 23.5% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,733 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HTH shares. TheStreet cut Hilltop from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Raymond James upgraded Hilltop from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of Hilltop stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $30.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 412,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,124. The business's fifty day moving average price is $31.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 1.12. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $26.78 and a one year high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.04. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.20% and a net margin of 7.00%. The business had revenue of $290.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $296.89 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This is an increase from Hilltop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 3,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.63, for a total transaction of $94,890.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,776 shares of the company's stock, valued at $435,734.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.83, for a total transaction of $924,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,934 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,050,135.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 3,000 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.63, for a total value of $94,890.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,776 shares in the company, valued at $435,734.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 28.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.