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

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

Several other research firms have also recently commented on HTLF. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Heartland Financial USA from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two research 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.60.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

HTLF stock opened at $50.86 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day moving average of $40.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.64 and a beta of 0.96. Heartland Financial USA has a 12 month low of $26.44 and a 12 month high of $56.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its 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 business 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 11.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $277,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lo B. Nestman sold 4,389 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HTLF Bank bought a new position in Heartland Financial USA in the 4th quarter worth $55,623,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 506.3% during the first quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 394,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after buying an additional 329,095 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the fourth quarter worth about $11,502,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,232,944 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,591,000 after purchasing an additional 88,886 shares during the period. 71.55% of the stock is currently 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.