Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $56.59 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $51.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.43. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $56.75. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.09 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $220,064.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after acquiring an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,111,000 after purchasing an additional 54,030 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 182,245 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,626,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.