Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,263 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Hilltop were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Edge Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hilltop in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hilltop by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 223,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Hilltop during the fourth quarter worth $477,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Trading Up 1.2 %

Hilltop stock opened at $32.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 1.14. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.67 and a twelve month high of $35.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.07.

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

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James cut shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

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.