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

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $13.20.

HTLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays increased 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.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $12.55 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.59. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $16.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $972.50 million, a P/E ratio of -44.82 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $184.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.08 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 2.98%.The business’s revenue was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 52.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 41.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Heartland Express by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3,737.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 10,746 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 10,466 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.