Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Now Covered by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $9.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $9.13 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $8.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $716.77 million, a P/E ratio of -25.35 and a beta of 1.05. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $7.11 and a fifty-two week high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.86% and a negative return on equity of 3.46%. The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. The trade was a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232. Insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.9% in the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 66,459 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.