Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,537 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,408 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Heartland Financial USA were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the second quarter valued at approximately $800,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $601,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,626,000. Slotnik Capital LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter worth $13,714,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 5.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 144,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,418,000 after buying an additional 7,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Heartland Financial USA in a research report on Sunday, November 24th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,274.40. This represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.4 %

HTLF stock opened at $67.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 0.94. Heartland Financial USA, Inc. has a one year low of $29.67 and a one year high of $70.27.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The business had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Heartland Financial USA’s dividend payout ratio 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.