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

Investment analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. 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. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of HTLF opened at $52.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.11. Heartland Financial USA has a 1-year low of $26.44 and a 1-year high of $56.56. The stock has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80 and a beta of 0.96.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $188.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $183.19 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 7.12% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Financial USA news, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.20, for a total transaction of $149,385.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.14, for a total transaction of $220,064.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,318 shares of company stock valued at $369,475 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth $83,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 37,550.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during 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.