Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Lowered to $10.00 at Barclays

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HTLD. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $13.25.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $9.94 on Tuesday. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $785.56 million, a P/E ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 93,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $946,179.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 677,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,853,344.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 31,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.97 per share, for a total transaction of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 88,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,422.73. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 93,496 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $946,179.52. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 677,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,853,344.96. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 295,729 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,787. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 0.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,944,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $116,705,000 after acquiring an additional 55,720 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Heartland Express by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,241,000 after purchasing an additional 264,313 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 99.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after buying an additional 609,769 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,045,000 after buying an additional 31,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 695,582 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,218,000 after buying an additional 48,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.