SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH - Free Report) by 85.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,108 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,738 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Hilltop were worth $118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HTH. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 12.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $411,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hilltop during the third quarter worth $203,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 187.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 511,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,443,000 after purchasing an additional 333,695 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 5.9% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hilltop by 11.4% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 9,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 29.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Hilltop from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Hilltop Stock Performance

NYSE HTH traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $31.54. The company had a trading volume of 227,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,846. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.75 and a 200-day moving average of $31.02.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Hilltop's dividend payout ratio is 39.08%.

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.