HBK Investments L P Takes $935,000 Position in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

HBK Investments L P bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,484 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,060 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at about $83,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the third quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2,193.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,775 shares of the bank's stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the period. Finally, High Note Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $238,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Sunday, November 24th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $67.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 284,998. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.87. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.65 and a 1 year high of $70.27.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Heartland Financial USA's payout ratio is 67.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This trade represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.