StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF)

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

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $67.72 on Friday. Heartland Financial USA has a 12-month low of $29.67 and a 12-month high of $70.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.35 and a 200-day moving average of $52.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,111,000 after purchasing an additional 54,030 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,999,000 after buying an additional 182,245 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,579,000 after buying an additional 53,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth $46,626,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.