Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Price Down 5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of Heartland Express fell about 5% mid-day to $12.79 (low $12.81) on Monday, with just 35,290 shares traded—roughly a 93% drop from average session volume.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of -$0.06, beating estimates of -$0.13, but revenue of $153.8M missed expectations and was down 19.7% year-over-year, leaving margins and return on equity negative.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed-to-negative: MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $11.60 (one Buy, three Hold, three Sell), despite a few recent price-target upgrades.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) traded down 5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $12.81 and last traded at $12.7920. 35,290 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 498,958 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $11.60.

Heartland Express Stock Down 7.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $967.11 million, a P/E ratio of -22.29 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $10.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.84.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,664,000 after buying an additional 485,658 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,062,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 150.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 799,491 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,700,000 after buying an additional 480,488 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 91.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 812,248 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,807,000 after buying an additional 386,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,619,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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