Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Cut to $8.50 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Key Points

• Robert W. Baird has reduced Heartland Express's price target from $9.00 to $8.50, maintaining a "neutral" rating for the company's stock.
• Heartland Express reported a loss of ($0.14) earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations and experiencing a 23.4% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Insider purchases have been significant, with major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquiring over 167,000 shares recently, increasing their ownership stake by 16.01%.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $9.00 to $8.50 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the transportation company's stock. Robert W. Baird's price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.70% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.63.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.3%

Heartland Express stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.82. The stock had a trading volume of 742,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,719. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $614.26 million, a PE ratio of -17.00 and a beta of 1.05. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $7.11 and a 12 month high of $13.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought 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 directly owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 148,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,260,312.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 438,282 shares in the company, valued at $3,725,397. The trade was a 51.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232 over the last 90 days. 40.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Heartland Express by 3.6% in the fourth 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 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 during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at $6,389,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,639,000 after acquiring an additional 285,838 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.