Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a report published on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $44.45 on Tuesday. Heartland Financial USA has a fifty-two week low of $26.44 and a fifty-two week high of $45.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total value of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 1st quarter valued at $167,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Company Profile

Heartland Financial USA, Inc, a bank holding company, provides commercial, small business, and consumer banking services to individuals and businesses in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, demand deposit accounts, NOW accounts, savings, money market, and individual retirement; certificates of deposit; and other time deposits.