Barclays PLC Increases Stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 112.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 56,537 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $3,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $938,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% during the second 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 last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Hilltop by 3.6% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE:HTH opened at $28.93 on Tuesday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.44 and a 1 year high of $35.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced 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 business had revenue of $411.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $302.29 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current 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 given 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 dividend yield of 2.35%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Corporate insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.