Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Raises Dividend to $0.18 Per Share

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17.

Hilltop has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% annually over the last three years. Hilltop has a payout ratio of 40.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Hilltop to earn $1.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.9%.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of HTH traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.13. The stock had a trading volume of 895,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,602. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48 and a beta of 1.15. Hilltop has a 12 month low of $26.67 and a 12 month high of $35.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.23.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James lowered Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total value of $1,006,051.11. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,362.28. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,968. This trade represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.