Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Given New $11.00 Price Target at Barclays

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $10.00 to $11.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 11.43% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HTLD. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $12.42 on Wednesday. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $14.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million for 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%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. Research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 35,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,311,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,703,598.61. The trade was a 2.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 154,244 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,464 over the last quarter. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 84,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Heartland Express by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 64,522 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.