Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) PT Lowered to $10.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on HTLD. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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 lowered Heartland Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $10.77. 480,589 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 356,053. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.15 million, a P/E ratio of -63.35 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.63. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 93,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $1,010,691.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 290,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,135,008.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 93,496 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $1,010,691.76. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 290,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,135,008.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 403,334 shares of company stock valued at $4,227,955. 39.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 0.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,944,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,705,000 after buying an additional 55,720 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 worth $45,241,000 after purchasing an additional 264,313 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 99.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 609,769 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,045,000 after purchasing an additional 31,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 695,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,218,000 after purchasing an additional 48,026 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.