StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the bank's stock.

Heartland Financial USA Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLF traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $63.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 67,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,939. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $64.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.83. Heartland Financial USA has a 1 year low of $32.03 and a 1 year high of $70.27. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20 and a beta of 0.97.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of Heartland Financial USA stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total value of $1,537,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,136,161.12. This trade represents a 27.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark A. Frank sold 432 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 1,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $71,274.40. This trade represents a 28.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,743 shares of company stock worth $1,958,839 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 2.1% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,657,168 shares of the bank's stock valued at $118,111,000 after buying an additional 54,030 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Heartland Financial USA by 8.3% during the second 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 3.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,428 shares of the bank's stock valued at $82,579,000 after purchasing an additional 53,755 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Financial USA during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,626,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,023,370 shares of the bank's stock valued at $58,036,000 after buying an additional 47,480 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.