Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.70.

HTLD has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $8.60 on Thursday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $12.85. The company has a market cap of $665.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.70 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The business had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. This represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 147,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after purchasing an additional 10,108 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.7% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 185.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new position in Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $130,000. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 167.6% in the second quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,388 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.