StockNews.com Lowers Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.50.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.36 on Wednesday. Heartland Express has a 52-week low of $10.00 and a 52-week high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.60 and a 200 day moving average of $12.82.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,727.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 99.2% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after purchasing an additional 609,769 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $612,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.