Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.80.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $15.04 on Monday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $16.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of -26.86 and a beta of 1.31. 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 (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.05 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -14.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 28,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,824.29. This trade represents a 52.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 41.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the first quarter worth about $907,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth about $462,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing 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.