Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Raised to $13.00 at Morgan Stanley

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $12.00 to $13.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 14.28% from the stock’s previous close.

HTLD has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen raised Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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 note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.80.

Heartland Express Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $15.16 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $6.99 and a fifty-two week high of $16.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company 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 prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $444,824.29. This represents a 52.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 41.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position 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 worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,517 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.