Jane Street Group LLC Raises Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,591 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $2,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hilltop by 1.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Hilltop by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Hilltop by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Hilltop by 3.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James cut Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hilltop currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.50.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE:HTH opened at $28.93 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.51 and a 200 day moving average of $31.54. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.44 and a 52-week high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $411.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.29 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

Insider Activity

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

Hilltop 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.