Heartland Financial USA, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the bank on Monday, January 27th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th.

Heartland Financial USA has raised its dividend by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Heartland Financial USA has a payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Heartland Financial USA to earn $4.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.8%.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of HTLF traded up $1.09 on Friday, reaching $61.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 159,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,424. Heartland Financial USA has a twelve month low of $32.03 and a twelve month high of $70.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.46 and a 200-day moving average of $56.53.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Friday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total value of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.