Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

HTLD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.50.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of HTLD opened at $10.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $798.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.29 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $10.00 and a 12 month high of $17.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.84.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.49% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,727.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 609,769 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth $8,559,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,241,000 after purchasing an additional 264,313 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 210,935 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth $1,662,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium, and long-haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers; cross-border freight and other transportation services; and temperature-controlled truckload services.