Zacks Research Upgrades Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) to “Strong-Buy”

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.80.

Heartland Express Price Performance

HTLD stock opened at $15.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.14. Heartland Express has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $16.64. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -26.86 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The company had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 41.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $907,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $462,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.