Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given New $13.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.80.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $14.86. 17,385 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 543,602. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.89. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $6.99 and a fifty-two week high of $16.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction 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 approximately $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 41.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 185.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 51.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 3,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.