Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Now Covered by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $9.00 price target on the transportation company's stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.93. 665,919 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 445,667. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $701.45 million, a PE ratio of -24.81 and a beta of 1.07. Heartland Express has a 52-week low of $7.11 and a 52-week high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.86% and a negative return on equity of 3.46%. The company had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $39,338,000 after purchasing an additional 123,399 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Heartland Express by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,257 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,844,000 after buying an additional 60,968 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,195,000 after acquiring an additional 63,493 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at about $6,389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

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.