Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives $13.50 Average PT from Analysts

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the four research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.50.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,727.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 39.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 133.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,327 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $818.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.94 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $17.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.56 and a 200 day moving average of $12.76.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -47.06%.

About Heartland Express

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.