Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Price Target to $34.00

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) had its target price decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.84% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James cut Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of HTH stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.13. The stock had a trading volume of 146,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 377,323. Hilltop has a one year low of $26.67 and a one year high of $35.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.14.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hilltop will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other Hilltop news, 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 transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 77,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hilltop

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 223,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the fourth quarter worth $477,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 199,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,712,000 after acquiring an additional 9,672 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hilltop by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 39,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 3,592 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.