Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Hilltop had a net margin of 7.00% and a return on equity of 5.20%. The business had revenue of $285.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $29.07 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.94. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.12. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.78 and a 1-year high of $35.66.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 40.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet downgraded Hilltop from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Raymond James raised Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hilltop news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.83, for a total value of $924,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,050,135.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hilltop news, Director Hill A. Feinberg sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.63, for a total transaction of $94,890.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,734.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.83, for a total value of $924,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,050,135.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 28.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Hilltop by 31.5% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Hilltop by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hilltop by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Hilltop by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.