Dividend Power Score
A single, comprehensive score designed to measure the true strength of a company’s dividend.
This score combines three essential pillars of dividend quality:
Consistency – Measures how reliable the dividend has been over time, focusing on payment history, stability, and the absence of cuts or suspensions.
Payability – Assesses the company’s financial ability to sustain its dividend, taking into account cash flow, earnings coverage, balance sheet strength, and overall financial health.
Growth – Evaluates the long-term growth of both the dividend and the company’s share price, highlighting businesses that consistently increase payouts while creating shareholder value.
Higher scores identify companies that have historically delivered dependable income alongside sustained dividend growth and long-term capital appreciation.
Company Overview
Hilltop Holdings Inc. is a financial holding company operating primarily in the banking, broker-dealer, mortgage origination, and financial services industries. The company provides a diversified range of financial products and services through its operating subsidiaries, serving individuals, businesses, municipalities, and institutional clients. Its primary revenue drivers include net interest income from banking operations, mortgage origination and servicing income, and fees generated from securities trading, public finance, and advisory services.
The company’s core businesses are conducted through PlainsCapital Bank, PrimeLending, and Hilltop Securities. Hilltop is positioned as a diversified financial services platform with a strong regional banking foundation complemented by capital markets and mortgage capabilities. The company traces its modern history to 2007, when it acquired PlainsCapital Bank, transforming from a real estate-focused entity into a bank holding company. Over time, Hilltop expanded through acquisitions in mortgage lending and securities, creating an integrated financial services model centered on relationship-driven banking and capital markets expertise.
Business Operations
Hilltop Holdings operates through three primary business segments: Banking, Broker-Dealer, and Mortgage Origination. The Banking segment, conducted through PlainsCapital Bank, generates revenue primarily from commercial and consumer lending, deposit services, and treasury management. The Broker-Dealer segment, operated through Hilltop Securities, provides public finance underwriting, fixed income sales and trading, investment banking, and advisory services, with a strong focus on municipal clients. The Mortgage Origination segment, led by PrimeLending, derives revenue from residential mortgage production and loan sales into the secondary market.
Operations are primarily domestic, with activities spanning multiple U.S. states. Hilltop controls proprietary banking infrastructure, mortgage origination platforms, and broker-dealer licenses that enable it to operate across regulated financial markets. Key subsidiaries include PlainsCapital Bank, PrimeLending, Hilltop Securities, and Securities Holdings, each operating under distinct regulatory frameworks while contributing to consolidated earnings.
Strategic Position & Investments
Hilltop’s strategic direction emphasizes disciplined growth, risk management, and diversification across complementary financial services. The company has focused on expanding its core banking franchise, strengthening capital markets capabilities, and selectively growing mortgage origination while managing interest rate and credit risk. Strategic investments have historically centered on acquiring or expanding regulated financial businesses that align with its relationship-based service model.
Notable acquisitions include the expansion of Hilltop Securities through the integration of prior public finance and fixed-income businesses, as well as the acquisition and growth of PrimeLending as a national mortgage platform. Hilltop continues to invest in technology modernization across its subsidiaries, particularly in digital banking, risk management systems, and compliance infrastructure, to enhance operational efficiency and regulatory oversight.
Geographic Footprint
Hilltop Holdings is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and operates primarily across the United States. PlainsCapital Bank has a strong presence in Texas, with additional operations in select commercial and consumer banking markets nationwide. PrimeLending operates on a national scale, originating mortgages across a broad footprint of U.S. states.
Hilltop Securities maintains offices across major U.S. metropolitan regions, supporting municipal finance and fixed-income clients nationwide. While the company does not have significant international operations, its securities activities may involve U.S.-based clients accessing global capital markets, resulting in indirect international exposure.
Leadership & Governance
Hilltop Holdings was founded under the leadership of Gerald J. Ford, who played a central role in shaping the company’s transformation into a diversified financial holding company. The leadership team emphasizes conservative risk management, regulatory compliance, and long-term shareholder value creation, with a strategic vision centered on disciplined growth and capital preservation.
Key executives include:
- Jeremy B. Ford – President and Chief Executive Officer
- Lee F. Gibson – Chief Financial Officer
- William B. Lowman – Chairman of the Board
- Bradford J. Bolton – Chief Risk Officer
- Steven D. Thompson – Chief Operating Officer
The board and executive team bring extensive experience in banking, capital markets, and financial regulation, supporting Hilltop’s governance framework and strategic execution across its operating subsidiaries.