Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 703 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.08% of Hilltop worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake 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. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,594,000 after buying an additional 107,348 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after buying an additional 24,591 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $33,991,000 after acquiring an additional 17,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Hilltop Stock Up 1.8 %

Hilltop stock opened at $28.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.62. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $35.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.00.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%. Research analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

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.