Heartland Financial Earnings Preview

Heartland Financial HTLF releases its next round of earnings this Monday, January 25. Here is Benzinga's essential guide to Heartland Financial's Q4 earnings report.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Analysts expect Heartland Financial earnings of $1.02 per share. Revenue will likely be around $160.59 million, according to the consensus estimate. In the same quarter last year, Heartland Financial announced EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $140.78 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate, earnings would be down 0.97%. Sales would be up 14.08% from the same quarter last year. Here is how the company's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Over the past 52-week period, shares of Heartland Financial have declined 6.03%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably a little upset going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Heartland Financial is scheduled to hold the call at 17:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.