Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 531,094 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 70% from the previous session’s volume of 313,051 shares.The stock last traded at $30.68 and had previously closed at $30.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Hilltop from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Hilltop Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 1.14.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.09. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $302.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is 41.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 17,157 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total transaction of $566,009.43. Following the sale, the director now owns 544,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,978,857.21. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 29.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTH. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 187.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,443,000 after purchasing an additional 333,695 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Hilltop by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,393,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,918,000 after buying an additional 153,697 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,408,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,230,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,112,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% 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.