Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $54.69 on Friday. Heartland Financial USA has a 1 year low of $26.44 and a 1 year high of $59.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.95 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $53.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.65.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.19 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.11% and a net margin of 7.12%. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.73 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 223.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,221 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,827 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 12,795 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,591,000 after acquiring an additional 88,886 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter worth $11,502,000. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter worth $800,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.