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Heartland Financial (HTLF)'s Technical Outlook is Bright After Key Golden Cross

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Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (HTLF - Free Report) reached a significant support level, and could be a good pick for investors from a technical perspective. Recently, HTLF's 50-day simple moving average broke out above its 200-day moving average; this is known as a "golden cross."

Considered an important signifier for a bullish breakout, a golden cross is a technical chart pattern that's formed when a stock's short-term moving average breaks above a longer-term moving average; the most common crossover involves the 50-day and the 200-day, since bigger time periods tend to form stronger breakouts.

Golden crosses have three key stages that investors look out for. It starts with a downtrend in a stock's price that eventually bottoms out, followed by the stock's shorter moving average crossing over its longer moving average and triggering a trend reversal. The final stage is when a stock continues the upward climb to higher prices.

A golden cross is the opposite of a death cross, another technical event that indicates bearish price movement may be on the horizon.

Shares of HTLF have been moving higher over the past four weeks, up 14.5%. Plus, the company is currently a #3 (Hold) on the Zacks Rank, suggesting that HTLF could be poised for a breakout.

Once investors consider HTLF's positive earnings outlook for the current quarter, the bullish case only solidifies. No earnings estimate has gone lower in the past two months compared to 2 revisions higher, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate has increased as well.

Moving Average Chart for HTLF

Investors may want to watch HTLF for more gains in the near future given the company's key technical level and positive earnings estimate revisions.


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