Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Downgraded by Raymond James to Underperform

Raymond James lowered shares of Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports.

HTH has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH stock opened at $28.84 on Thursday. Hilltop has a one year low of $28.58 and a one year high of $35.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 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 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Hilltop will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.72%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In related news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of Hilltop 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,968. The trade was a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,362.28. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTH. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Hilltop in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hilltop by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,991,000 after buying an additional 17,477 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 112.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,428,000 after buying an additional 56,537 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hilltop by 53.1% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 24,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 107,348 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

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.