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

Key Points

• Heartland Express, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from analysts, with two analysts issuing sell ratings and four providing hold ratings.
• CEO Michael J. Gerdin recently purchased 24,798 shares of the company's stock, indicating a personal investment confidence, despite the stock's mixed performance.
• Heartland Express reported (-$0.14) earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations and reflecting a 23.4% year-over-year revenue decline.

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $9.70.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HTLD. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 24,798 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 196.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,273 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 30,010 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,681 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 29,145 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,713 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,368 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 6,821 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $8.11 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $627.78 million, a P/E ratio of -17.63 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.02. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The business's revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Heartland Express

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.

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