Zacks Research Downgrades Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) to Hold

Posted by Geri Gentry on Sep 10th, 2026

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

HTLD has been the subject of several other research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Heartland Express

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $12.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Heartland Express has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $16.64. The company has a market cap of $945.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.68 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.84.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $152.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $185.08 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.98% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. Research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Millis sold 31,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total value of $492,069.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 41.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Quarry LP bought a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 185.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 51.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

(Get Free Report)

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.