Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Short Interest Update

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 681,100 shares, an increase of 12.0% from the October 31st total of 608,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 210,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter worth about $209,000. Steele Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 193.9% during the 2nd quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after purchasing an additional 22,328 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 4.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,437,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 40.7% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,172 shares of the bank’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,364 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $67.57 on Monday. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $30.65 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 company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.75 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.15.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The company had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Financial USA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.60.

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.