Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Reaches New 1-Year High at $44.25

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $44.25 and last traded at $43.97, with a volume of 56971 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on HTLF. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James raised 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 report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.34.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid 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 2.75%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during 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 last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 153,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,262 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the first quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 127,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 9,615 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 223.1% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,940 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 17,221 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.