Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Sets New 12-Month High at $46.12

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $46.12 and last traded at $46.07, with a volume of 327493 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $44.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HTLF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.12.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total value of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total value of $149,385.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,529 shares of company stock worth $341,387 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at $209,000. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the first quarter valued at about $696,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the first quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after purchasing an additional 329,095 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.