Edge Capital Group LLC Invests $335,000 in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH)

Edge Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HTH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hilltop by 419.7% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 383,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,340,000 after buying an additional 309,858 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Hilltop by 90.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 592,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,043,000 after acquiring an additional 281,230 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Hilltop by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,568,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,594,000 after acquiring an additional 107,348 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Hilltop by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 522,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,959,000 after acquiring an additional 89,724 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hilltop by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 382,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,299,000 after acquiring an additional 81,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Hilltop from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Hilltop from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

Hilltop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HTH opened at $31.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.03. Hilltop Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.67 and a 1-year high of $35.32.

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hilltop Holdings Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilltop Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. 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 dividend yield of 2.32%. Hilltop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

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.