Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.20.

Several analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Heartland Express by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Heartland Express by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $14.35 on Friday. Heartland Express has a 1-year low of $6.99 and a 1-year high of $14.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.62 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The business’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.