Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Short Interest Update

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 840,000 shares, a decrease of 7.9% from the October 31st total of 911,600 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 327,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Hilltop Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE HTH traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $31.35. 175,080 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,045. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.54. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $28.58 and a 1-year high of $35.66.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of Hilltop 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTH. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 1.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 5.9% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hilltop in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.50.

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.