Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 5,134 Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its stake in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 82,693 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,134 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned approximately 0.19% of Heartland Financial USA worth $4,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 681,412 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased 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 acquiring an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth $10,601,000. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of HTLF opened at $65.32 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.53. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.67 and a 12 month high of $69.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 67.04%.

Heartland Financial USA 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.