Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives $9.75 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Reduce" from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $9.75.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Heartland Express Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.14 on Wednesday, hitting $9.07. 370,026 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 445,394. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.61 and a 200-day moving average of $9.71. The stock has a market cap of $712.45 million, a PE ratio of -25.19 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $7.11 and a fifty-two week high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.46% and a negative net margin of 2.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express's payout ratio is -22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 167,644 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. The trade was a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt purchased 6,571 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.96 per share, with a total value of $58,876.16. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $6,389,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at $5,396,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,639,000 after acquiring an additional 285,838 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth $2,694,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,287,000 after purchasing an additional 200,100 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.