Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Heartland Express, with three sell ratings, two holds, one buy and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $13.20, versus a recent share price of $12.55.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.14, slightly below expectations, while revenue fell 12.5% year over year to $184.13 million. Heartland Express posted a negative net margin and analysts expect approximately $0.15 in full-year EPS.
• A director sold 31,402 shares, reducing his ownership by 52.5%, while insiders collectively own 41.6% of the company and institutional investors hold 53.45%. Heartland also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, yielding about 0.6% annually.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research 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 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.20.

Several brokerages have issued reports on HTLD. Barclays raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Heartland Express by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $12.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $972.50 million, a P/E ratio of -44.82 and a beta of 1.33. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $16.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's 50 day moving average is $14.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.59.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.98% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The business had revenue of $184.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. The company's revenue was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post 0.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

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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