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

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

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

Heartland Financial USA stock opened at $61.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA has a 52-week low of $32.03 and a 52-week high of $70.27. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.76.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The business had revenue of $272.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.51 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Financial USA 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 transaction of $29,047.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. The trade was a 28.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Financial USA

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 302,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,437,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 40.7% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 8,172 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 2,364 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,543 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 3,287 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 82,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,677,000 after buying an additional 2,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 2.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,378 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $506,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.55% of the company’s stock.

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.