Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Hits New 52-Week Low at $10.47

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $10.47 and last traded at $10.50, with a volume of 64892 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.75.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $817.17 million, a P/E ratio of 57.44 and a beta of 0.62.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $275.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.36 million. Heartland Express had a return on equity of 1.71% and a net margin of 1.22%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 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, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 39.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 115.0% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 210,935 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 141.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 25,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.