Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.80.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $14.80. 394,204 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 578,946. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.04. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $6.99 and a 12 month high of $16.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.43 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total value of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 41.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,873,653 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,285,000 after buying an additional 201,151 shares during the period. Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 2,192,807 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after buying an additional 167,962 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,755,000 after buying an additional 35,355 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 72.7% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 485,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,845,000 after acquiring an additional 166,236 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by 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.