Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $57.80 on Wednesday. Heartland Financial USA has a 1 year low of $26.44 and a 1 year high of $61.46. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.25.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued 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 payout ratio is 72.29%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total value of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,591,000 after purchasing an additional 88,886 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 33.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,256 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 5,869 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 12,795 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 25,748 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 11,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,211 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 728 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.