Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.27 EPS

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.27, Zacks reports. Hilltop had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 7.04%.

Hilltop Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HTH traded down $0.09 on Monday, hitting $30.09. 639,963 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 401,522. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $29.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.13. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 1.14.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Hilltop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Hilltop from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Hilltop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,968. The trade was 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 company insiders.

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.