Barclays Cuts Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Price Target to $9.00

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.6 %

HTLD opened at $9.15 on Wednesday. Heartland Express has a fifty-two week low of $8.83 and a fifty-two week high of $13.67. The company has a market capitalization of $718.73 million, a P/E ratio of -24.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.25.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -21.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth about $311,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 88,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 12,021 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Heartland Express by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,287,000 after buying an additional 200,100 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 414,856 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,655,000 after buying an additional 98,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.