Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

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

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 1.4 %

HTLF opened at $58.67 on Thursday. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $27.46 and a 1-year high of $61.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.43.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 11.04%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth about $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,601,000 after acquiring an additional 681,412 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% during the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,852,000 after acquiring an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter worth $10,601,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.