Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

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

HTLD has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $12.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.75 and a 200-day moving average of $11.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Heartland Express has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.60.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued 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). 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 net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.95 per share, with a total value of $690,660.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders bought 154,244 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,464 over the last three months. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

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