Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson increased 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 note on Tuesday, April 30th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

HTLF opened at $43.89 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44 and a beta of 0.97. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $45.99.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at $429,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,529 shares of company stock worth $341,387. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLF. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,009,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 32,044 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter worth $55,623,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,502,000. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.