Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives $45.60 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of HTLF stock opened at $48.32 on Thursday. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $26.44 and a 12 month high of $56.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.15 and its 200 day moving average is $39.88.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The company had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total value of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth $55,623,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% during the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after acquiring an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,502,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,591,000 after acquiring an additional 88,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,009,000. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.