Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Baird R W

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

HTLD has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research raised Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price target on Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.25.

Heartland Express Stock Up 7.5%

HTLD stock opened at $9.84 on Monday. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $6.99 and a fifty-two week high of $12.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $762.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.87 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $8.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.44.

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

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Heartland Express by 4.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $133,000. Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 185,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 97,877 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 353,417 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after buying an additional 7,146 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by 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.