Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives $13.50 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the four analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.25.

HTLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 66,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.45 per share, with a total value of $689,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,419,307.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $689,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,419,307.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders acquired 295,729 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,787 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,327 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% in 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. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HTLD opened at $9.94 on Friday. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $17.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $785.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.69.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current 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 issued 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 0.80%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -47.06%.

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.