Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 1,259 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,259 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Hilltop worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted 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 acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Hilltop by 2.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 16,426 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Hilltop in the second quarter valued at approximately $394,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hilltop by 2.6% in the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 472,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,767,000 after acquiring an additional 12,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 11.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 2,545 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,968. The trade was a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction 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 directly 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. 29.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of Hilltop stock opened at $28.89 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.50. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.44 and a 1 year high of $35.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $411.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hilltop currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.50.

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.