Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,800 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after buying an additional 681,412 shares during the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 260.1% in the 3rd quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 582,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,049,000 after purchasing an additional 421,000 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth approximately $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth about $10,601,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, 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 value of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839 in the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $64.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.81 and a 200-day moving average of $57.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.08 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.03 and a 52 week high of $70.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Heartland Financial USA 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.