StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF)

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

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $67.32 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.31. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $31.47 and a 1-year high of $70.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 37.61 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This trade represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,601,000 after buying an additional 681,412 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 260.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 582,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,049,000 after acquiring an additional 421,000 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,601,000. 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.