Short Interest in Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) Decreases By 7.4%

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 617,800 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 666,900 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 255,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Shares of Heartland Financial USA stock traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.30. The company had a trading volume of 257,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,862. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.38. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $26.10 and a 1-year high of $39.39.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $144.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $178.60 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 11.56%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Financial USA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Heartland Financial USA's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HTLF shares. TheStreet downgraded Heartland Financial USA from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Heartland Financial USA from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.80.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter worth $245,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 446,883 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,152,000 after acquiring an additional 34,571 shares during the period. EJF Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter worth $1,299,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 209,120 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,865,000 after acquiring an additional 86,285 shares during the period. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 3rd quarter worth $409,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% 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.