Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Heartland Express, with three sell ratings, two holds, one buy and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $13.00, modestly above the stock’s $12.18 opening price.
• Heartland Express reported quarterly EPS of $0.14, but revenue of $152.38 million fell short of the $185.08 million estimate and declined 12.5% year over year. Analysts collectively expect full-year EPS of $0.19.
• Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company, while insiders own 41.60%; notably, director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares, reducing his position by 52.52%.

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on HTLD shares. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $444,824.29. This trade represents a 52.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 41.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $165,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at $976,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1,408.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 665,540 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $10,130,000 after buying an additional 621,406 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 27,476 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,425,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $12.18 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $13.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $941.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.50 and a beta of 1.33. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $6.99 and a 12-month high of $16.64.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $152.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.08 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 2.98%.Heartland Express's revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current 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.

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