Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of HTLF stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $66.40. The stock had a trading volume of 208,595 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,581. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 37.10 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $27.69 and a one year high of $68.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.36.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 11.04%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTLF. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after purchasing an additional 681,412 shares in the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,852,000 after purchasing an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,601,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Heartland Financial USA

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.