Robert W. Baird Cuts Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $8.50

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 objective cut by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $9.00 to $8.50 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the transportation company's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.37% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.63.

Heartland Express Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of HTLD stock traded up $0.03 on Monday, hitting $8.39. The stock had a trading volume of 107,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,887. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $658.64 million, a P/E ratio of -18.16 and a beta of 1.05. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $7.11 and a 1 year high of $13.39. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.41.

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

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,214,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,869,775. The trade was a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 148,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.50 per share, with a total value of $1,260,312.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,725,397. This represents a 51.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 317.0% during 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 period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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