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

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.25.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,844,000 after purchasing an additional 60,968 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth $5,396,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 187.5% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 38,030 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 24,804 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3,345.5% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 12,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 1.2% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 588,417 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,425,000 after purchasing an additional 7,146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $9.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $713.31 million, a P/E ratio of -20.47 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.41. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $6.99 and a 1 year high of $12.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The business had revenue of $172.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.68 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.37% and a negative net margin of 4.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -17.78%.

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.