Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th.

Heartland Financial USA has increased its dividend by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Heartland Financial USA has a payout ratio of 26.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Heartland Financial USA to earn $4.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.7%.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $53.78 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $26.44 and a fifty-two week high of $54.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.29. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLF has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. Insiders sold a total of 13,529 shares of company stock worth $341,387 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.