Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The transportation company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.02), Briefing.com reports. Heartland Express had a positive return on equity of 0.30% and a negative net margin of 1.77%.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $10.38. 788,940 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,546. The stock has a market cap of $802.69 million, a PE ratio of -64.88 and a beta of 1.35. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $6.99 and a 12 month high of $16.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HTLD. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Heartland Express from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $11.80.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc is a North American truckload carrier that provides freight transportation services primarily through an asset-based fleet of tractors and dry van trailers. The company transports general commodities, including consumer and industrial goods, over irregular routes and short- to medium-length hauls.

The company serves customers throughout the contiguous United States and also provides cross-border transportation services involving Mexico and Canada. Its offerings include standard truckload transportation, dedicated capacity, expedited and regional services, and logistics support designed to help shippers manage freight movements and supply chains.

Heartland Express was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa.