Morgan Stanley Cuts Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $11.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $11.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

HTLD has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $7.93 on Monday. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $12.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $622.90 million, a PE ratio of -17.24 and a beta of 1.06.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 148,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,260,312.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,397. The trade was a 51.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt acquired 6,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,800. This trade represents a 28.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 322,487 shares of company stock worth $2,819,602. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 66,459 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in Heartland Express by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,680 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.