Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Posts Earnings Results

Key Points

• Quarterly results: Heartland Express reported EPS of ($0.06), beating estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07, but revenue fell 19.7% year-over-year and the company showed a negative net margin and return on equity.
• Market reaction and valuation: Shares rose about 3.8% to $12.03 after the report; the company has a market cap near $931M, a negative P/E, and a MarketBeat consensus target of $10.20 with a "Reduce" rating.
• Dividend and ownership: The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.02 (annualized $0.08, ~0.7% yield) and roughly 53.45% of the stock is held by institutional investors.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07, Zacks reports. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 6.51% and a negative return on equity of 4.79%. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Heartland Express's revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Heartland Express Stock Up 3.8%

Shares of HTLD traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $12.03. 145,414 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 492,067. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.63. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $12.22. The company has a market cap of $931.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 1.11.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 24th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 185.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 51.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $10.20.

About Heartland Express

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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