Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 0.4 %

HTLF opened at $66.23 on Thursday. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $32.03 and a 12 month high of $70.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.55. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $392,591.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,420.28. The trade was a 45.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at $800,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at $601,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,017 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,404,000. Hedge funds and other 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.