Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Cut to $9.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $9.15 on Wednesday. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $8.83 and a 12 month high of $13.67. The company has a market cap of $718.73 million, a PE ratio of -24.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $10.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.25.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -21.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,338,000 after acquiring an additional 123,399 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 45,732 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,195,000 after purchasing an additional 63,493 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 157,892 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,639,000 after buying an additional 285,838 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.