Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Receives $45.60 Average Price Target from Analysts

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HTLF shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLF. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.6% during the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 9,211 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 984 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $55.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.02. Heartland Financial USA has a 52 week low of $26.44 and a 52 week high of $59.16. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 0.95. 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 (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The company had revenue of $188.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. Heartland Financial USA’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

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.