Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (HTLF) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 on January 27th

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 2nd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th.

Heartland Financial USA has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Heartland Financial USA has a payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Heartland Financial USA to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.8%.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $60.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $32.03 and a 12 month high of $70.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.37.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.