JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $12.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its target price lowered by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the transportation company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on HTLD. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.50.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.10 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $798.20 million, a P/E ratio of -59.41 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $10.00 and a 1 year high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.84.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 210,935 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 25,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.