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 note released on Tuesday. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

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

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $43.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.93 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA has a fifty-two week low of $26.44 and a fifty-two week high of $45.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $42.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 business 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 company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business 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 yield of 2.79%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 value of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $429,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the first quarter worth about $167,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.