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

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

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

HTLF stock opened at $61.74 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $32.03 and a 12 month high of $70.27.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 business 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 earned $1.12 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Financial USA

In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total value of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLF. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter worth $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after buying an additional 681,412 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 260.1% during the third quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 582,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,049,000 after buying an additional 421,000 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at about $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth about $10,601,000. 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.