Denali Advisors LLC Trims Position in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Denali Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 140,096 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,070 shares during the quarter. Heartland Financial USA accounts for 1.4% of Denali Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Denali Advisors LLC owned 0.33% of Heartland Financial USA worth $4,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 15.7% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 28.8% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 166.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 141,996 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after acquiring an additional 88,739 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 23.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 435,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,831,000 after buying an additional 82,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 470.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 272,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,028,000 after buying an additional 224,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF traded down $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.89. 89,779 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 330,957. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $45.99.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387. Insiders own 1.80% 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.