Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on HTLD. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price target on shares of Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.75.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.39 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.55. The company has a market cap of $804.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.09 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Heartland Express has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $12.19.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.37% and a negative net margin of 4.01%.The company had revenue of $172.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.68 million. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -17.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 80,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,545 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 68,875 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 44,566 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 68,750 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 35,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 53.2% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 151,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after purchasing an additional 52,494 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Heartland Express

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.