Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Gap Down to $10.44

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $10.44, but opened at $10.20. Heartland Express shares last traded at $10.22, with a volume of 60,991 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $13.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $11.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.01. The company has a market capitalization of $817.17 million, a PE ratio of 56.78 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $275.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $293.36 million. Heartland Express had a return on equity of 1.71% and a net margin of 1.22%. On average, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 39.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY boosted its position in Heartland Express by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,889 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at $102,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 287.4% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,737 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 11.1% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,495 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the period. 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.