Analysts Set Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Target Price at $10.00

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on Heartland Express in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 23,835 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,845,000 after buying an additional 166,236 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 85,539 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $772,000 after buying an additional 27,010 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $11.28 on Thursday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $12.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $873.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.84.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $179.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.54 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.79% and a negative net margin of 6.51%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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.