Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Short Interest Update

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 881,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the November 30th total of 818,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 337,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at $291,968. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Hilltop by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,455,000 after purchasing an additional 15,346 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the third quarter worth $29,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hilltop by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,991,000 after acquiring an additional 17,477 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 112.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 56,537 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 53.1% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 24,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HTH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, Raymond James cut Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of Hilltop stock opened at $28.63 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.49. Hilltop has a 52-week low of $28.34 and a 52-week high of $35.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.29 million. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

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.