Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Lo B. Nestman Buys 268 Shares

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Lo B. Nestman acquired 268 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Sunday, June 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $39.42 per share, for a total transaction of $10,564.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,583 shares in the company, valued at $141,241.86. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of HTLF stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.88. The stock had a trading volume of 137,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 333,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.44 and a twelve month high of $45.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The business had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HTLF. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 1st quarter valued at about $167,000. Institutional investors 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.