Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given New $9.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, Barclays reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $7.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.65. The stock has a market cap of $612.53 million, a P/E ratio of -21.08 and a beta of 0.97. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The business had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Barclays PLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 326.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 64,185 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth $288,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,079,000 after acquiring an additional 45,732 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 159.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 78,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,885,000 after acquiring an additional 90,100 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.