Norges Bank Invests $789,000 in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 27,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HTH. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth $29,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hilltop during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 64.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 worth $106,000 after buying an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new position in Hilltop during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on HTH shares. Raymond James raised Hilltop from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

Hilltop Stock Performance

HTH stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.52. 43,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,914. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.55 and a 200-day moving average of $30.59. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.67 and a 52-week high of $35.32.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.27. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%. Research analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is a boost from Hilltop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Hilltop's payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Hilltop 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.