Versor Investments LP Sells 6,800 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Versor Investments LP trimmed its stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Hilltop by 4.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,594,000 after purchasing an additional 107,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,991,000 after buying an additional 17,477 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,537,000 after buying an additional 19,936 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 90.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 592,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,043,000 after buying an additional 281,230 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hilltop by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,959,000 after buying an additional 89,724 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH opened at $31.96 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $29.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.37 and a beta of 1.14. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $35.32.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 5.18%. Equities analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.