Correspondence 0001104659-24-003022 from Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH) (CIK 0001265131) (HTH)
Hilltop Holdings Inc. (HTH) (CIK 0001265131)
Date: Jan. 10, 2024 · CIK: 0001265131 · Accession: 0001104659-24-003022
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 001-31987
Referenced dates: December 19, 2023
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Hilltop Holdings Inc.
6565
Hillcrest Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75205
Tel: 214.855.2177
Fax: 214.855.2173
www.hilltop-holdings.com
NYSE: HTH
January 10, 2024
Via EDGAR
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporate Finance
Mail Stop 4720
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attn: Jee Yeon Ahn and Lory Empie
Re: Hilltop Holdings Inc.
Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022
Filed February 17, 2023
Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period
Ended September 30, 2023
Filed October 23, 2023
File No. 001-31987
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Hilltop Holdings Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”),
hereby files via EDGAR with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) the following response
to the Staff’s comment in a letter to the Company dated December 19, 2023. For your convenience, we have repeated the comment prior
to the response.
Form 10-Q for the Quarterly Period Ended September 30, 2023
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations
Loan Portfolio, page 73
1. We note the tabular disclosure on page 73 detailing the composition of your gross loan portfolio, which includes commercial real
estate (“CRE”). Given the significance of CRE in your total loan portfolio, please revise your disclosures, in future filings,
to further disaggregate the composition of your CRE loan portfolio by borrower type (e.g., by office, hotel, multifamily, etc.), geographic
concentrations and other characteristics (e.g., current weighted average and/or range of loan-to-value ratios, occupancy rates, etc.)
material to an investor’s understanding of your CRE loan portfolio. In addition, revise to describe the specific details of any
risk management policies, procedures or other actions undertaken by management in response to the current environment.
Response:
We acknowledge the Staff’s comment. In future filings, we
will further disaggregate the composition of our CRE loan portfolio and discuss in more detail our risk management policies,
procedures or other actions undertaken by management in response to the current environment. The following are proposed revisions to
the Loan Portfolio section (and specifically the Banking Segment subsection) in future filings based on our September 30, 2023 Form
10-Q (additions/revisions to current disclosures are underlined).
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
January 10, 2024
Page 2
[MD&A, page 73]
Loan Portfolio
Consolidated loans held for investment are detailed in the table below,
classified by portfolio segment (in thousands).
September 30,
December 31,
2023
2022
Commercial real estate:
Non-owner occupied
$ 1,878,163
$ 1,870,552
Owner occupied
1,407,736
1,375,321
Commercial and industrial
1,662,737
1,639,980
Construction and land development
1,088,701
980,896
1-4 family residential
1,783,259
1,767,099
Consumer
26,212
27,602
Broker-dealer
357,244
431,223
Loans held for investment, gross
8,204,052
8,092,673
Allowance for credit losses
(110,822 )
(95,442 )
Loans held for investment, net of allowance
$ 8,093,230
$ 7,997,231
Banking Segment
The loan portfolio constitutes the primary earning asset of the banking
segment and typically offers the best alternative for obtaining the maximum interest spread above the banking segment’s cost of
funds. The overall economic strength of the banking segment generally parallels the quality and yield of its loan portfolio.
As discussed in more detail within the section captioned “Financial
Condition – Allowance for Credit Losses on Loans” set forth in Part II, Item 7 of our 2022 Form 10-K, the banking segment’s
credit policies emphasize strong underwriting and governance standards and early detection of potential problem credits in order to develop
and implement action plans on a timely basis to mitigate potential losses. These formal credit policies and procedures provide the banking
segment with a framework for consistent underwriting and a basis for sound credit decisions. The banking segment strives to avoid the
risk of concentrations of credit in any particular industry, collateral type, location, or with any individual customer or counterparty.
To manage the credit risks associated with its loan portfolio, management
may, depending upon current or anticipated economic conditions and related exposures, apply enhanced risk management measures to loans
through analysis of a specific borrower’s financial condition, including cash flow, collateral values, and guarantees, among other
credit factors. Given the current market dynamics, including economic uncertainties, the rapid increase in market interest rates since
2022, and a deteriorating outlook for commercial real estate markets, management has heightened its specific review procedures of credits
maturing in the next six to twelve months as well as those credits associated with real estate.
The banking segment’s total loans held for investment, net of
the allowance for credit losses, were $8.7 billion and $8.5 billion at September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. At September
30, 2023, the banking segment’s loan portfolio included warehouse lines of credit extended to PrimeLending and its ABAs of $1.6
billion, of which $1.0 billion was drawn. At December 31, 2022, amounts drawn on the available warehouse lines of credit was $0.9 billion.
Amounts advanced against the warehouse lines of credit are eliminated from net loans held for investment on our consolidated balance sheets.
The banking segment does not generally participate in syndicated loan transactions and has no foreign loans in its portfolio.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
January 10, 2024
Page 3
A significant portion of the banking segment’s loan portfolio
at September 30, 2023 consisted of commercial real estate loans secured by properties. Such loans can involve high principal loan amounts,
and the repayment of these loans is dependent, in large part, on a borrower’s ongoing business operations or on income generated
from the properties that are leased to third parties. The table below sets forth the banking segment’s commercial real estate loan
portfolio, by portfolio industry sector and collateral location as of September 30, 2023 (in thousands).
Brownsville-
Dallas-
Harlingen-
Other
Commercial Real Estate
Fort Worth
Austin
Houston
McAllen
San Antonio
Lubbock
Texas
Outside Texas
Total
Non-owner occupied:
Office
$ 149,640
$ 182,655
$ 54,292
$ 17,592
$ 25,542
$ 7,967
$ 64,700
$ 333
$ 502,721
Retail
147,082
73,107
26,842
19,929
9,196
12,969
38,921
8,963
337,009
Hotel/Motel
51,164
25,220
73,638
21,132
381
18,885
41,759
13,942
246,121
Multifamily
11,523
11,143
47,095
54,615
-
16,825
57,465
10,578
209,244
Industrial
115,354
52,218
11,403
5,448
3,159
720
22,709
434
211,445
All other
107,654
60,491
27,013
16,168
21,192
52,830
51,394
34,881
371,623
582,417
404,834
240,283
134,884
59,470
110,196
276,948
69,131
1,878,163
Owner occupied:
Office
$ 126,231
$ 73,007
$ 24,454
$ 14,861
$ 35,643
$ 9,358
$ 10,679
$ 4,035
$ 298,268
Retail
12,373
15,750
3,384
1,131
197
179
4,050
1,017
38,081
Industrial
173,255
37,697
34,346
8,666
13,241
6,813
33,346
21,052
328,416
All other
339,457
60,929
88,620
22,324
49,356
15,000
155,700
11,585
742,971
651,316
187,383
150,804
46,982
98,437
31,350
203,775
37,689
1,407,736
Total commercial real estate loans
$ 1,233,733
$ 592,217
$ 391,087
$ 181,866
$ 157,907
$ 141,546
$ 480,723
$ 106,820
$ 3,285,899
At September 30, 2023, the banking segment had loan concentrations
(loans to borrowers engaged in similar activities) that exceeded 10% of total loans in its real estate portfolio. The areas of concentration
within our real estate portfolio were non-construction commercial real estate loans, non-construction residential real estate loans, and
construction and land development loans, which represented 41.9%, 22.8% and 13.9%, respectively, of the banking segment’s total
loans held for investment at September 30, 2023. The banking segment’s loan concentrations were within regulatory guidelines at
September 30, 2023.
In addition, the Bank’s loan portfolio includes collateralized
loans extended to businesses that depend on the energy industry, including those within the exploration and production, field services,
pipeline construction and transportation sectors. Crude oil prices remain uncertain given future supply and demand for oil are influenced
by international armed conflicts, return to business travel, new energy policies and government regulation, and the pace of transition
towards renewable energy resources. At September 30, 2023, the Bank’s energy loan exposure was approximately $53 million of
loans held for investment with unfunded commitment balances of approximately $12 million. The allowance for credit losses on the
Bank’s energy portfolio was $0.1 million, or 0.3% of loans held for investment at September 30, 2023.
The following table provides information regarding the maturities of
the banking segment’s gross loans held for investment, net of unearned income (in thousands).
September 30, 2023
Due Within
Due From One
Due from Five
Due After
One Year
To Five Years
To Fifteen Years
Fifteen Years
Total
Commercial real estate
$ 828,253
$ 1,438,622
$ 956,910
$ 62,114
$ 3,285,899
Commercial and industrial
2,190,430
311,231
144,789
—
2,646,450
Construction and land development
879,115
167,897
40,658
1,031
1,088,701
1-4 family residential
128,782
421,775
446,128
786,574
1,783,259
Consumer
13,607
12,231
360
14
26,212
Total
$ 4,040,187
$ 2,351,756
$ 1,588,845
$ 849,733
$ 8,830,521
Fixed rate loans
$ 1,754,624
$ 1,702,763
$ 1,330,703
$ 849,733
$ 5,637,823
Floating rate loans
2,285,563
648,993
258,142
—
3,192,698
Total
$ 4,040,187
$ 2,351,756
$ 1,588,845
$ 849,733
$ 8,830,521
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
January 10, 2024
Page 4
In the table above, commercial and industrial includes amounts advanced
against the warehouse lines of credit extended to PrimeLending. Floating rate loans that have reached their applicable rate floor or
ceiling are classified as fixed rate loans rather than floating rate loans. As of September 30, 2023, floating rate loans totaling $761
million had reached their applicable rate floor and were expected to reprice, subject to their scheduled repricing timing and frequency
terms. The majority of floating rate loans carry an interest rate tied to a SOFR rate or The Wall Street Journal Prime Rate, as published
in The Wall Street Journal.
If any members of the Commission have any questions
concerning the response above or desire further information or clarification in connection therewith, he or she should contact the undersigned
at (214) 855-2171.
Very truly yours,
/s/ WILLIAM B. FURR
William B. Furr
Chief Financial Officer
CGP:cp
cc: Jee Yeon Ahn
Lory Empie
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission