Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Upgraded at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 242,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,501. The stock has a market cap of $716.77 million, a P/E ratio of -25.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.19) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 148,272 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,260,312.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 438,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,725,397. This trade represents a 51.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $268,800. This represents a 28.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232 over the last three months. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,195,000 after purchasing an additional 63,493 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at $6,389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.