Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,504 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,706 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Heartland Financial USA were worth $879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. USA Financial Formulas raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,060 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at about $83,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2,193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,775 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a report on Saturday, November 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Financial USA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $66.30 on Friday. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.67 and a 1-year high of $69.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.04%.

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.