Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Short Interest Update

Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 958,000 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the January 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 353,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on HTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James downgraded Hilltop from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HTH traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.12. 322,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 406,361. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89 and a beta of 1.14. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.02.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Hilltop will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Hilltop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Institutional Trading of Hilltop

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Hilltop by 187.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,443,000 after buying an additional 333,695 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hilltop by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hilltop by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 63,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 171.4% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 34,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 21,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company's stock.

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.