Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $66.30, but opened at $64.15. Heartland Financial USA shares last traded at $66.69, with a volume of 23,061 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.21 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.87.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $392,591.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,420.28. This represents a 45.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLF. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 5.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,418,000 after buying an additional 7,017 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 62.1% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 36,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter worth $225,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 52.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 4,017 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth $673,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.