Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Price Down 4.4% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Heartland Express's stock dropped by 4.4% to $7.93, significantly below the previous close of $8.29, with trading volume down by 20% compared to its average.
• Analysts have recently lowered their price targets for Heartland Express, with **Morgan Stanley** and **Barclays** adjusting their targets to $11.00 and $8.00 respectively, reflecting a bearish outlook on the stock.
• Insider trading activity showed CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchasing 24,798 shares at an average cost of $8.19, suggesting some confidence in the company despite current challenges.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $7.95 and last traded at $7.93. Approximately 449,430 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 20% from the average daily volume of 558,792 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HTLD. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $8.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.05. The firm has a market cap of $613.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752 in the last three months. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 worth $39,338,000 after buying an additional 123,399 shares during the last quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 167.6% during the second quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,581 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009,388 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 13.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,408,307 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,168,000 after purchasing an additional 166,717 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 11.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,432 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $10,727,000 after purchasing an additional 128,702 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $8,844,000 after purchasing an additional 60,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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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