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

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a 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 dividend payout ratio of 25.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of HTLF stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $61.96. The stock had a trading volume of 159,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,424. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.97. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $32.03 and a 52-week high of $70.27.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $392,591.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at $470,420.28. This represents a 45.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839. Company insiders own 1.80% 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.