Wall Street Zen Downgrades Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a buy to a hold rating, adding to a mixed analyst picture. Across recent coverage, the stock has an overall average rating of “Reduce” with an average target price of $12.80.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed: Heartland beat EPS expectations at a loss of $0.06 per share, but revenue of $153.81 million fell short of estimates and declined 19.7% year over year.
• Shares were trading around $14.80 at the time of the report, near their 50-day average and below the 52-week high of $16.64. The article also noted a director sold more than 31,000 shares, reducing that insider’s stake by 52.52%.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Sunday.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $12.80.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Heartland Express stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.80. The company had a trading volume of 394,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,946. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.43 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.60 and a 200-day moving average of $12.04. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $16.64.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The firm's revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In related news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at $444,824.29. This represents a 52.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 41.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Heartland Express by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 185.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 18.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc NASDAQ: HTLD is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.

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