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

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Lo B. Nestman purchased 268 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.42 per share, with a total value 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of HTLF traded down $0.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $43.88. 137,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 333,221. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.44 and a twelve month high of $45.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.43 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.80.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTLF. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the first quarter worth $167,000. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

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.