Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the four analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.50.

Several research firms have issued reports on HTLD. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a 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. StockNews.com downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

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

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 99.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 609,769 shares during the last quarter. 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 5.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at $612,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $10.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $798.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $11.65 and its 200 day moving average is $12.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Heartland Express has a 52-week low of $10.00 and a 52-week high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is presently -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.