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 sent to investors on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on HTLF. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued 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 price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $52.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 0.97. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.43. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $54.00.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 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 given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,043,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,860,000 after buying an additional 62,177 shares during the period. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,623,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,012,000 after buying an additional 32,044 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after buying an additional 329,095 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Company Profile

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.