Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Price

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Barclays from $11.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 8.09% from the stock’s current price.

HTLD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $854.08 million, a P/E ratio of -37.52 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $14.60.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 50,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $583,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 39.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 64.6% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the period. 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.