Insider Selling: Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Sells 432 Shares of Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $67.96 on Wednesday. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.67 and a 52-week high of $70.27. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,626,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,309.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 710,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after purchasing an additional 681,412 shares during the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 260.1% in the third quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC now owns 582,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,049,000 after purchasing an additional 421,000 shares in the last quarter. Slotnik Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,714,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,601,000. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.