UBS Group Has Lowered Expectations for Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Price

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective cut by UBS Group from $13.00 to $12.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $10.91. 315,986 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,695. The firm has a market cap of $856.44 million, a PE ratio of -37.62 and a beta of 0.69. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.75.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 (DPR) is presently -27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 23.3% during 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.