Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.60.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTLF shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF opened at $55.89 on Monday. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $56.56. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.46. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 0.96.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the company’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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,318 shares of company stock worth $369,475. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at $83,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.