Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Plans $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th.

Heartland Financial USA has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years. Heartland Financial USA has a dividend payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Heartland Financial USA to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.8%.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF stock opened at $61.96 on Friday. Heartland Financial USA has a twelve month low of $32.03 and a twelve month high of $70.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.66.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $392,591.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at $470,420.28. The trade was a 45.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.