Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $12.20.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective 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 restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price objective on Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, May 8th.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $14.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.14 and a beta of 1.31. Heartland Express has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $16.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.82 and its 200-day moving average is $11.52.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The business had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In related 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 sale, the director directly owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 41.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $907,000. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $462,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 1.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.