Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

HTLD has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price objective on Heartland Express in a research note on Thursday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.39 on Friday. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $12.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $804.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.09 and a beta of 1.13.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.37% and a negative net margin of 4.01%.The firm had revenue of $172.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.68 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gate City Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 167.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,388 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 72.7% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after buying an additional 485,658 shares during the period. Magnolia Group LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,062,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 150.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 799,491 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,700,000 after acquiring an additional 480,488 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 91.0% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 812,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,807,000 after acquiring an additional 386,961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.