Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Stock analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) in a report released on Saturday. The firm set a "hold" rating on the bank's stock.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ HTLF traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $65.58. 93,471 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 290,660. 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 has a 1-year low of $29.67 and a 1-year high of $69.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.47. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64 and a beta of 0.94.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17. The firm had revenue of $272.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.51 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John K. Schmidt sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.32, for a total transaction of $1,537,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,541 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,136,161.12. This represents a 27.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 4.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,023,370 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,036,000 after purchasing an additional 47,480 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Heartland Financial USA by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 84,767 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,807,000 after buying an additional 33,533 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 128.0% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,541 shares of the bank's stock valued at $654,000 after buying an additional 6,479 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 33.1% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 27,999 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,588,000 after buying an additional 6,960 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Financial USA in the third quarter worth about $225,000. 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.