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

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF opened at $57.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84 and a beta of 0.95. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $26.44 and a 12 month high of $61.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $55.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.01.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The business had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 13th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,032,000 after acquiring an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,111,000 after purchasing an additional 54,030 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 182,245 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth approximately $46,626,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,601,000 after buying an additional 681,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.