UBS Group Downgrades Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) to Neutral

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) was downgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $13.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $15.00. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.64% from the company’s previous close.

HTLD has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.80.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $11.75 on Tuesday. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $17.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.05. The stock has a market cap of $928.84 million, a PE ratio of -69.12 and a beta of 0.69.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 8,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.74 per share, for a total transaction of $86,875.86. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 849,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,119,097.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 66,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $689,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 518,594 shares in the company, valued at $5,419,307.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 8,089 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.74 per share, with a total value of $86,875.86. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 849,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,119,097.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 405,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,237,451. Corporate insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,559,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,045,000 after acquiring an additional 31,045 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 141.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 25,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,944,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,705,000 after purchasing an additional 55,720 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.