Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.75, but opened at $11.47. Heartland Express shares last traded at $11.5190, with a volume of 18,564 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on Heartland Express in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.56. The company has a market capitalization of $900.88 million, a P/E ratio of -17.10 and a beta of 1.11.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $157.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.54 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 6.51% and a negative return on equity of 4.79%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 24th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -11.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,857,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,325,000 after buying an additional 17,962 shares during the period. Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 2,192,807 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 167,962 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,755,000 after buying an additional 35,355 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after buying an additional 485,658 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Heartland Express by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after buying an additional 166,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.