890 Shares in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Purchased by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Hilltop by 1.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 5.9% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Hilltop by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Hilltop during the second quarter worth about $28,000. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Hilltop stock opened at $31.58 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.57. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.58 and a 1 year high of $35.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several 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 note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Hilltop currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 29.30% of the company’s stock.

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.