Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Receives $10.20 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.20.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 target price on shares of Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $9.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $12.13. The firm has a market cap of $754.46 million, a PE ratio of -14.32 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $10.72 and its 200-day moving average is $9.20.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $157.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.54 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.79% and a negative net margin of 6.51%.Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 4.4% during the 1st 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 acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $907,000. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 11.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,432 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,727,000 after purchasing an additional 128,702 shares during the period. 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.