Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.75.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Heartland Express from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 target price on shares of Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Thursday, January 15th.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter worth about $907,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the first quarter worth about $515,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.3% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,680 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,751 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $10.57 on Friday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $11.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.60. The firm has a market cap of $818.65 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.49 and a beta of 1.13.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $172.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.68 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.37% and a negative net margin of 4.01%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.78%.

About Heartland Express

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.