Lo B. Nestman Purchases 268 Shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Stock

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) EVP Lo B. Nestman purchased 268 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.42 per share, with a total value of $10,564.56. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 3,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,241.86. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of HTLF stock opened at $44.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.90. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $45.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The business 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 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,043,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,860,000 after purchasing an additional 62,177 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter worth $55,623,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,012,000 after buying an additional 32,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 23.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 435,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,831,000 after acquiring an additional 82,514 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

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.