Heartland Express (HTLD) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) will likely be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, January 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of ($0.04) per share and revenue of $254,270.00 billion for the quarter.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Heartland Express to post $0 EPS for the current fiscal year and $0 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD opened at $11.56 on Monday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $13.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $907.46 million, a PE ratio of -39.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.91.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 35,960 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.97 per share, for a total transaction of $430,441.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,311,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 2.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918. Insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on HTLD shares. Barclays increased their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

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.