Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th.

Heartland Financial USA has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Heartland Financial USA has a payout ratio of 25.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Heartland Financial USA to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.8%.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 1.8 %

HTLF stock opened at $61.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $32.03 and a 1-year high of $70.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.76.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $392,591.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,420.28. The trade was a 45.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total value of $29,047.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.