Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

Investment analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $54.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.62. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $26.44 and a 52-week high of $56.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $183.19 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,318 shares of company stock worth $369,475 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,012,000 after purchasing an additional 32,044 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 223.1% in the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,940 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 17,221 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 31,827 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 12,795 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,591,000 after acquiring an additional 88,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,502,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.