Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.27 EPS

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.27, Zacks reports. Hilltop had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 6.65%.

Hilltop Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE HTH traded up $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $29.85. 438,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,751. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.24. Hilltop has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $35.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 1.15.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of Hilltop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,968. The trade was a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,362.28. The trade was a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HTH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James cut Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued 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.

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.