Venturi Wealth Management LLC Takes $27,000 Position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Hilltop during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Hilltop during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Hilltop by 64.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Hilltop by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Hilltop in the third quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Hilltop Stock Performance

Shares of HTH stock opened at $31.43 on Thursday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.67 and a fifty-two week high of $35.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.04.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of 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 lowered shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research 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.com, Hilltop has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

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.