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

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

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $67.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.49. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $29.67 and a 12 month high of $70.27. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

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

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,111,000 after buying an additional 54,030 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,999,000 after buying an additional 182,245 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,579,000 after acquiring an additional 53,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,626,000. 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.