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

Equities researchers at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) in a research report issued on Wednesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the bank’s stock.

HTLF has been the subject of a number of other reports. TheStreet cut Heartland Financial USA from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Heartland Financial USA in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Heartland Financial USA from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Heartland Financial USA from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Heartland Financial USA Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLF opened at $43.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 0.98. Heartland Financial USA has a twelve month low of $26.10 and a twelve month high of $44.47.

Heartland Financial USA (NASDAQ:HTLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $279.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.73 million. Heartland Financial USA had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 11.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Financial USA will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Financial USA news, Director Robert B. Engel sold 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.26, for a total value of $191,976.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,000 shares in the company, valued at $429,420. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Financial USA

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Heartland Financial USA by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 7,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 695.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,807 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 153,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,262 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Financial USA during the first quarter worth about $167,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Financial USA by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 127,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 9,615 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.