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

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

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:HTLF opened at $65.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.79 and a 200-day moving average of $51.40. Heartland Financial USA has a 52 week low of $29.67 and a 52 week high of $69.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.17. The company had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 8.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Financial USA

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. The trade was a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,244,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,032,000 after purchasing an additional 11,207 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,111,000 after acquiring an additional 54,030 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 182,245 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $82,579,000 after acquiring an additional 53,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,626,000. 71.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.