Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

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

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on 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 target on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $11.52 on Tuesday. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $17.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.42. The stock has a market cap of $910.66 million, a PE ratio of -67.76 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Heartland Express will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 88,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.44 per share, with a total value of $919,764.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 583,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,093,953.28. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 88,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 583,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,093,953.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.45 per share, with a total value of $689,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,419,307.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 396,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,129,811. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Heartland Express by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,944,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,705,000 after purchasing an additional 55,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 264,313 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 99.2% during the third 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 buying an additional 609,769 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,045,000 after acquiring an additional 31,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 7.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 695,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,218,000 after acquiring an additional 48,026 shares in 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.