Insider Selling: Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Sells $392,591.16 in Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $392,591.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,420.28. This trade represents a 45.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $66.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.62. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.03 and a 52 week high of $70.27.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,999,000 after buying an additional 182,245 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,579,000 after buying an additional 53,755 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth approximately $46,626,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,023,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,036,000 after acquiring an additional 47,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.