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

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.75.

HTLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Thursday.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $10.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $804.71 million, a P/E ratio of -23.09 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.90 and a 200-day moving average of $8.55. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $6.99 and a 12-month high of $12.19.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.78%.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 80,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 11,448 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,545 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 183.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 68,875 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $577,000 after buying an additional 44,566 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 104.2% in the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 68,750 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 35,086 shares during the period. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 53.2% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 151,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 52,494 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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.