Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average of $37.58

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $37.58 and traded as high as $44.28. Heartland Financial USA shares last traded at $43.92, with a volume of 163,189 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.58. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,318 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently 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.