Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.75.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on HTLD shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $7.87 on Friday. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $6.99 and a fifty-two week high of $12.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $609.52 million, a PE ratio of -17.11 and a beta of 1.07.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $172.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.68 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 185.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the period. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at $89,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at $89,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 51.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter worth $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.