Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on HTLD. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price objective on Heartland Express in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $11.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $915.46 million, a P/E ratio of -17.38 and a beta of 1.15. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $6.99 and a fifty-two week high of $12.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.80.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 6.51% and a negative return on equity of 4.79%. The firm had revenue of $179.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $194.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $907,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 252.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 11,872 shares during the period. Finally, Lesa Sroufe & Co boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 111.3% during the second quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co now owns 228,895 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 120,570 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.