Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a research report released on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $67.96 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.49. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $29.67 and a one year high of $70.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $58,036,000 after buying an additional 47,480 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 65.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 84,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,807,000 after acquiring an additional 33,533 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 128.0% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,541 shares of the bank’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,479 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 27,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 6,960 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $225,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.