Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Price Target to $51.00

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) had its price objective upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $41.00 to $51.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Heartland Financial USA from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.94. 768,252 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 325,298. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.47 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.08. Heartland Financial USA has a one year low of $26.10 and a one year high of $44.04.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLF. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 3rd quarter valued at $232,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 1.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 5.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,560 shares of the bank’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 292,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,594,000 after buying an additional 4,217 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 23,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.