Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.60.

Heartland Express Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $15.52 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.63. 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 has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $16.64. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -27.70 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The firm had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 41.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% during 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 stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. 53.45% of the stock is 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.