Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $70.40 and last traded at $70.40, with a volume of 459 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Monday. They issued 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.61 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s payout ratio is presently 67.04%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLF. Steele Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 193.9% in the second quarter. Steele Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,842 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 22,328 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,437,000 after buying an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 40.7% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,287 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.