Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Sells $392,591.16 in Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $392,591.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at $470,420.28. This represents a 45.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of HTLF traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $67.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 376,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 281,307. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.03 and a 1-year high of $70.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.29. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78 and a beta of 0.97.

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 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 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 business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is 67.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,437,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 40.7% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,364 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $83,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,543 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,287 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 781.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 73,507 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after buying an additional 65,168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.