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

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company's stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.50.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.1 %

HTLD stock traded down $0.01 on Monday, reaching $10.90. 383,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,866. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Heartland Express has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.60. The company has a market cap of $855.60 million, a P/E ratio of -37.83 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. Heartland Express's revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is presently -27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,196,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,965,699.06. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 39.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 14.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,960,000 after buying an additional 84,739 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,584,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 171,319 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 132.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 225,713 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,695,000 after acquiring an additional 128,758 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth $2,702,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.