American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 11,759 Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 427,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,759 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.66% of Hilltop worth $12,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HTH. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Hilltop during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hilltop in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Hilltop in the third quarter valued at $49,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Hilltop by 64.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilltop by 36.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. 57.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hilltop Stock Down 0.3 %

Hilltop stock opened at $30.37 on Wednesday. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.67 and a 12-month high of $35.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from Hilltop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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 report 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.

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.