Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.56 and last traded at $61.35, with a volume of 66194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.00.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.11% and a net margin of 7.12%. The company had revenue of $188.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.09 earnings per share. Heartland Financial USA’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.72 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after purchasing an additional 681,412 shares in the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the first quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,852,000 after purchasing an additional 329,095 shares during the period. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter worth $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,601,000. 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.