Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the four brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

Several research firms have commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 31,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.97 per share, with a total value of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 88,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,422.73. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 295,729 shares of company stock worth $3,072,787 in the last quarter. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 99.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at $8,559,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,241,000 after purchasing an additional 264,313 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 210,935 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,662,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.2 %

HTLD opened at $9.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $785.56 million, a PE ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.45 and its 200 day moving average is $12.69.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The company’s revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -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.