Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research 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 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.60.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

HTLF stock opened at $65.58 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.79 and a 200-day moving average of $51.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.94. Heartland Financial USA has a 12-month low of $29.67 and a 12-month high of $69.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 in the company, valued at $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. USA Financial Formulas raised its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,060 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at about $83,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 2,193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares during the period. 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.