Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Robert B. Engel Sells 7,600 Shares

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $43.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.10 and a 12-month high of $44.47.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.49 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Financial USA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLF. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 153,572 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,398,000 after buying an additional 5,262 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the first quarter worth about $167,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 127,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,473,000 after buying an additional 9,615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.