Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 653,900 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the March 31st total of 617,800 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 270,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on HTLF shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 66.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 248.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,253 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLF opened at $42.08 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35 and a beta of 1.06. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $26.10 and a 12 month high of $43.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.91.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $279.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.29%.

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.