Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives $45.60 Average Price Target from Analysts

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

HTLF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $149,385.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,529 shares of company stock worth $341,387. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 1st quarter worth approximately $167,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $47.60 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $43.74 and its two-hundred 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. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $26.44 and a 1-year high of $47.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

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.