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

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HTLF. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Up 1.2 %

HTLF opened at $48.17 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.31. Heartland Financial USA has a 52 week low of $26.44 and a 52 week high of $48.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02 and a beta of 0.97.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 8.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total value of $149,385.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,529 shares of company stock valued at $341,387 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,043,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,860,000 after buying an additional 62,177 shares during the period. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,623,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 478,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,012,000 after acquiring an additional 32,044 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% in the 1st quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,852,000 after acquiring an additional 329,095 shares in the last quarter. 71.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.