Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a report released on Saturday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

HTLF opened at $65.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.47. Heartland Financial USA has a 12-month low of $29.67 and a 12-month high of $69.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,060 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth $83,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the third quarter valued at $125,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2,193.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter worth about $225,000. 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.