Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Short Interest Update

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 690,300 shares, an increase of 11.8% from the July 31st total of 617,300 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 258,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.17. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $26.44 and a 12 month high of $56.75. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59 and a beta of 0.96.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The business had revenue of $188.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,318 shares of company stock valued at $369,475 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $83,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew 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 valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTLF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday. They issued 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

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.