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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a report issued on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on HTLF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $49.08 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.36 and its 200 day moving average is $40.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 0.96. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $26.44 and a one year high of $56.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Activity

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. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,009,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,012,000 after purchasing an additional 32,044 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,623,000. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 223.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,940 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 17,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 worth $1,189,000 after buying an additional 12,795 shares during the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.