Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,869 Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) by 33.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,256 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,869 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Heartland Financial USA worth $817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HTLF. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,591,000 after buying an additional 88,886 shares in the last quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $402,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 37,110 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after buying an additional 10,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

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

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

HTLF stock opened at $43.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $43.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.02. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.44 and a 1 year high of $45.99.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

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.