Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $9.27 and traded as high as $10.30. Heartland Express shares last traded at $9.95, with a volume of 495,272 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HTLD shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price target on shares of Heartland Express and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $803.98 million, a P/E ratio of -15.26 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.29.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.01. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.79% and a negative net margin of 6.51%.The company had revenue of $157.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.12) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 24th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -11.76%.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Jump Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 76.7% during the fourth 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. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 1.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.