Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Short Interest Up 5.8% in April

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 653,900 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the March 31st total of 617,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 270,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.1 %

HTLF stock opened at $42.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.35 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Heartland Financial USA has a 52 week low of $26.10 and a 52 week high of $43.17.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 12,795 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,869 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 75,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,665,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 88,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.00.

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.