Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sets New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $11.86 and last traded at $11.78, with a volume of 1132320 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.08.

The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $179.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.54 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 4.01% and a negative return on equity of 4.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.12) earnings per share.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $9.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 24.4% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 53,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 10,594 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Heartland Express by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,408,307 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,168,000 after buying an additional 166,717 shares during the period. Magnolia Group LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,062,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,432 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,727,000 after acquiring an additional 128,702 shares during the period. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,009,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Up 6.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $912.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.18 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.67.

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.