Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Cut to “Underperform” at Raymond James

Raymond James downgraded shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on HTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilltop has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $28.71 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.56 and its 200-day moving average is $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.13. Hilltop has a one year low of $28.58 and a one year high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.09. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%. The business had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hilltop will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. The trade was a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at $291,968. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Hilltop by 1.7% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Hilltop by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 793,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,832,000 after purchasing an additional 16,426 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Hilltop in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Hilltop in the 2nd quarter worth $394,000. 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.