Brokerages Set Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) PT at $45.60

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

HTLF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Sunday, June 9th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $42.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $45.99.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued 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 net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.33%. The firm had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Black Maple Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the first quarter worth about $696,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,852,000 after acquiring an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the first 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 during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.