Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Raised to $10.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target boosted by analysts at Barclays from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential downside of 7.48% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.81. 53,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 597,624. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.11. Heartland Express has a 52-week low of $6.99 and a 52-week high of $12.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $837.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.85 and a beta of 1.13.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $157.68 million for 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.12) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Heartland Express by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 136,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 405,220 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,659,000 after acquiring an additional 60,715 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 62,772 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 23,381 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 374,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,386,000 after acquiring an additional 37,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at $130,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.