Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Raised to $12.00

Key Points

• Barclays raised its price target on Heartland Express to $12.00 (from $10.00) but kept an underweight rating, implying roughly a 10% downside from the current share price.
• In the latest quarter HTLD reported EPS of -$0.06 (beating estimates by $0.07) while revenue of $153.8 million missed expectations and fell 19.7% year‑over‑year.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious — MarketBeat lists a consensus rating of Reduce with a consensus price target of $11.60 (below the $13.33 trading price), although individual targets and ratings range from sell to outperform.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underweight" rating on the transportation company's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 9.96% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on HTLD. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $11.60.

Heartland Express Trading Up 0.4%

HTLD traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.33. The company had a trading volume of 28,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 498,515. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.72 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.72. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $13.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.68% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.Heartland Express's revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 185.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $89,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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