Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given New $10.00 Price Target at Barclays

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.31% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on HTLD. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.68. 338,415 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 328,037. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.50 and its 200 day moving average is $12.73. The company has a market capitalization of $765.01 million, a P/E ratio of -56.76 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $17.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted 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 company had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Heartland Express will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 39.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 115.0% in the third 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 last quarter. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 25,597 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in Heartland Express by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.