Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $10.53, but opened at $9.87. Heartland Express shares last traded at $10.2920, with a volume of 75,388 shares trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on HTLD. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $104,523,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,873,653 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,285,000 after purchasing an additional 201,151 shares during the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,687,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Heartland Express by 34.7% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 588,810 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,124,000 after purchasing an additional 151,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,425,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $795.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 0.92% and a negative net margin of 2.98%. The firm had revenue of $152.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.57%.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a transportation and logistics company that provides truckload freight services across North America. Its operations primarily involve the over-the-road movement of general, non-refrigerated freight using dry van equipment.

The company offers irregular-route and dedicated transportation services to shippers, along with logistics and related freight solutions. Heartland Express serves customers throughout the contiguous United States and, through its broader network, supports cross-border freight movements involving Canada and Mexico.

Founded in 1978 by Russell Gerdin, the company is headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa.