Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Now Covered by StockNews.com

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

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on HTLF. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $55.76 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.10. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $26.44 and a one year high of $56.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59 and a beta of 0.96.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 7.12%. The firm had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.29%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $220,064.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,318 shares of company stock valued at $369,475 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 16,864 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $479,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,012,000 after purchasing an additional 32,044 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Heartland Financial USA

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.