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

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.27, Zacks reports. Hilltop had a net margin of 6.65% and a return on equity of 4.90%.

Hilltop Price Performance

NYSE:HTH traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.85. 438,154 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,792. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.83 and its 200-day moving average is $31.24. Hilltop has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HTH. StockNews.com raised Hilltop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Hilltop from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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 assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.50.

Insider Transactions at Hilltop

In other news, CAO Keith E. Bornemann sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,968. This represents a 21.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Martin Bradley Winges sold 30,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.61, for a total transaction of $1,006,051.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,748 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,362.28. This represents a 28.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.30% 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.