Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $8.57, but opened at $8.76. Heartland Express shares last traded at $8.31, with a volume of 27,716 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $668.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.00 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.29 and its 200 day moving average is $11.19.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is presently -21.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,634,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 285,838 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth $2,694,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,287,000 after buying an additional 200,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 590,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after buying an additional 185,718 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.