Insider Selling: Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Sells 7,600 Shares of Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total transaction of $191,976.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.59. The company had a trading volume of 393,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,001. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a one year low of $26.10 and a one year high of $44.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.13 and a 200 day moving average of $34.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released 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. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.50%. The business had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $182.73 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.75%. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is 72.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTLF shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 0.9% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in Heartland Financial USA by 5.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,560 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.