This Bank Stock Could Be a Long-Term Winner

Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLF) is an American financial services company with approximately $18 billion in assets. Yesterday, the company announced the approval of its regular quarterly cash dividend; the dividend payment amount will be $0.22 per share and will be payable on May 31 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 17. Heartland Financial currently offers a 1.82% dividend yield. 

It's noteworthy news, considering Heartland steps into the first-quarter earnings confessional after the close on Monday, April 26. The stock has a history of positive post-earnings reactions; looking back at the last eight quarterly reports, only two have been negative. Overall, HTLF averages a post-earnings move of 3.9%, regardless of direction, the last two years. This time around, the options market is pricing in a much larger-than-usual move of 11.7%. 

On the charts, HTLF is up 71% year-over-year, but has spent the last month consolidating between $48 and $52. Above here is the stock's annual high of $54.03 it snagged on March 18. Below sits the shares' 60-day moving average, a trendline not conquered on a closing basis since late October. 

From a fundamental perspective, Heartland Financial offers stability and steady growth. On the top line, HTLF has maintained consistent growth over the past few years and recently reached $607 million in revenues in 2020, which represents a 6.6% increase year-over-year. Heartland Financial has also increased revenues by 41.2% since 2017.

Of note, however, Heartland Financial took a 7.5% hit in 2020 on the bottom-line, leaving its total net income at $138 million. Net income is still up over 80% since 2017, though. In addition, the stock trades at a relatively low price-earnings ratio of 13.85. HTLF offers decent growth potential along with some modest dividend gains, making Heartland Financial stock a solid potential long-term investment.