Morgan Stanley Lowers Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $11.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced the price target for Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) from $12.00 to $11.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating, which indicates a potential upside of 42.58% from the current stock price.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a loss of ($0.14) earnings per share, falling short of analysts' expectations, with a 23.4% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Insider activity has seen significant purchases, including CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquiring 148,272 shares at an average price of $8.50, increasing his stake in the company by 51.13%.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $11.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of HTLD stock traded down $0.07 on Monday, reaching $7.83. 136,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 548,753. Heartland Express has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $12.85. The company has a market cap of $615.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.69 and a 200-day moving average of $9.27.

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

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is presently -17.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 148,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,260,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,397. This represents a 51.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,214,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 322,487 shares of company stock worth $2,819,602 over the last three months. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 317.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $134,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.