Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 6.95%. The company had revenue of $285.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hilltop Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE HTH opened at $29.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 1.12. Hilltop has a one year low of $26.78 and a one year high of $35.66.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 39.77%.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Hilltop by 71.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 58,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 24,537 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 3.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 17,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 57.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 12,608 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 176,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 14.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 52,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 6,465 shares during the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HTH. Raymond James upgraded Hilltop from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. TheStreet lowered Hilltop from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

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.