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

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

HTLF has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $47.60 on Thursday. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $47.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day moving average is $38.24. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The company had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.29%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,529 shares of company stock worth $341,387. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,623,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its holdings 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 valued at $13,852,000 after buying an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at $11,502,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,591,000 after acquiring an additional 88,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 70.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 209,120 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,865,000 after acquiring an additional 86,285 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently 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.