Analysts Set Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Price Target at $45.60

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.60.

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,679 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the third quarter valued at about $303,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,023,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,036,000 after acquiring an additional 47,480 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 84,767 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 33,533 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 128.0% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,541 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $654,000 after purchasing an additional 6,479 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $61.31 on Friday. Heartland Financial USA has a 1 year low of $32.03 and a 1 year high of $70.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.25 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. The business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is currently 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.