Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target Cut to $12.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of HTLD opened at $10.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.86. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.49% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The company had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post -0.01 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter worth $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at about $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.