Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a research report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $62.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a PE ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 0.97. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.04 and a 200-day moving average of $55.78. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $32.03 and a 52-week high of $70.27.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last issued 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. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.24, for a total value of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jennifer K. Hopkins sold 5,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.56, for a total value of $392,591.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,963 shares in the company, valued at $470,420.28. This represents a 45.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,384,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,999,000 after purchasing an additional 182,245 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 53,755 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,626,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 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.