Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Short Interest Down 7.9% in November

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) was the recipient of a significant 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 company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 327,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insider Activity at Hilltop

In other news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,362.28. This trade represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hilltop

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Hilltop in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth about $49,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the second quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 36.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE HTH opened at $31.35 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.62 and a 200-day moving average of $31.54. Hilltop has a 12 month low of $28.58 and a 12 month high of $35.66. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 1.13.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $411.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $302.29 million. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.