Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Short Interest Up 5.5% in November

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 718,700 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 15th total of 681,100 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 210,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In related news, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $392,591.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,420.28. The trade was a 45.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the 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 sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. USA Financial Formulas increased its stake 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 worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth $83,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 3rd quarter worth about $125,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 2,193.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,775 shares of the bank's stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at about $225,000. 71.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 1.1 %

HTLF stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.84. 166,009 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 281,153. Heartland Financial USA has a 52 week low of $32.03 and a 52 week high of $70.27. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $63.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

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

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued 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 1.80%. Heartland Financial USA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.04%.

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.