Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The stock traded as low as $28.35 and last traded at $28.46, with a volume of 7682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTH. Raymond James downgraded Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hilltop currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average of $31.52.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released 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. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. The business had revenue of $411.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 41.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 directly owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,968. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 187.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,443,000 after buying an additional 333,695 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Hilltop by 419.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 383,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,340,000 after acquiring an additional 309,858 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 90.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 592,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,043,000 after purchasing an additional 281,230 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,594,000 after purchasing an additional 107,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 27.2% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 382,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,299,000 after purchasing an additional 81,780 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.