Sagefield Capital LP Purchases Shares of 73,218 Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Sagefield Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 73,218 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $3,255,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,012,000 after buying an additional 32,044 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 223.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,940 shares of the bank’s stock worth $877,000 after purchasing an additional 17,221 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 67.2% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 12,795 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,591,000 after purchasing an additional 88,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth about $11,502,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $57.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.72. The stock has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.95. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.44 and a 1-year high of $59.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 11.11%. The company had revenue of $188.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. Heartland Financial USA’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% 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.