First Eagle Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,340 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Hilltop worth $2,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Hilltop by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 48,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after buying an additional 18,415 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Hilltop by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 70,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 24,591 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Hilltop by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,594,000 after acquiring an additional 107,348 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,991,000 after purchasing an additional 17,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hilltop by 2.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 794,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,537,000 after purchasing an additional 19,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HTH opened at $30.84 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.01. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.67 and a 12 month high of $35.32. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 1.14.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. Hilltop’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lowered Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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.

About Hilltop

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.