Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Short Interest Update

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 617,800 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 666,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 255,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of HTLF stock opened at $34.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.35. Heartland Financial USA has a 1 year low of $26.10 and a 1 year high of $39.39. The company has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.06.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.40. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.56% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $144.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $178.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Heartland Financial USA from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.80.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 65,785 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,146,000 after purchasing an additional 30,040 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 20,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 6,014 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 2,144 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,838,023 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,913,000 after buying an additional 102,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 61.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 12,890 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.