Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on HTLD. Barclays lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 target price on shares of Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $11.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $915.46 million, a PE ratio of -17.38 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.80. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $12.13.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.79% and a negative net margin of 6.51%.The business had revenue of $179.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $194.54 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 185.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at about $89,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at about $89,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 51.3% during the third 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 last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.