Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,660 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hilltop by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,383,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,116,000 after acquiring an additional 32,605 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $33,991,000 after purchasing an additional 17,477 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 826,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,654,000 after purchasing an additional 32,127 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Hilltop by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,959,000 after buying an additional 89,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Hilltop by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 511,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,642,000 after buying an additional 30,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTH opened at $28.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.57. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32.

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

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.