StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF)

Analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 2.4 %

HTLF stock opened at $65.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.49 and a 200 day moving average of $54.96. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 36.45 and a beta of 0.97. Heartland Financial USA has a twelve month low of $32.03 and a twelve month high of $70.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total transaction of $392,591.16. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This trade represents a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,743 shares of company stock valued at $1,958,839. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,111,000 after purchasing an additional 54,030 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 182,245 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,579,000 after buying an additional 53,755 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,626,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,023,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,036,000 after buying an additional 47,480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.