Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Gap Down to $10.44

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.44, but opened at $10.20. Heartland Express shares last traded at $10.22, with a volume of 60,991 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $807.69 million, a PE ratio of 58.00 and a beta of 0.62.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $275.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.36 million. Heartland Express had a return on equity of 1.71% and a net margin of 1.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 0.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,944,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,705,000 after acquiring an additional 55,720 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,323,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,182,000 after purchasing an additional 79,812 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,241,000 after buying an additional 264,313 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Heartland Express by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,242,869 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,601,000 after purchasing an additional 131,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 99.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 609,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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.