Robert W. Baird Cuts Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $8.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective reduced by Robert W. Baird from $8.50 to $8.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.56% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on HTLD. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $8.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $7.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $603.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.96 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 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.47. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $7.11 and a 1 year high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The transportation company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The business had revenue of $196.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 24,798 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired a total of 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752 over the last three months. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 11.7% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,205 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 2.5% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 68,136 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is 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.