Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Coverage Initiated by 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. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet cut shares of Heartland Financial USA from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $44.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA has a 12-month low of $26.10 and a 12-month high of $44.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.41.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,043,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,860,000 after buying an additional 62,177 shares during the period. HTLF Bank bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth about $55,623,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,012,000 after acquiring an additional 32,044 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 23.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 435,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,831,000 after acquiring an additional 82,514 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.