Heartland Express stock | Expectations for 2026, valuation & analysis

Heartland Express

NasdaqGS:HTLD

$ 10,15

$-0,07 (-0,68%)

10,15 $

$-0,07 (-0,68%)

End-of-day quote: 03/30/2026

Heartland Express Stock Value

The current analyst rating for NasdaqGS:HTLD is Hold.

Hold

Heartland Express Company Info

EPS Growth 5Y

-23,33%

Market Cap

$0,79 B

Long-Term Debt

$0,15 B

Short Interest

3,49%

Annual earnings

N/A

Dividend

$0,08

Dividend Yield

0,78%

Founded

1978

Industry

Industrials

Country

United States

ISIN Number

US4223471040

Website

http://www.heartlandexpress.com

Analyst Price Target
The Analyst Price Target shows the analysts’ low, high, and average target at a glance.

$10,00

-1.48%

Last Update: 03/31/2026

Analysts: 5

Highest Price Target $12,00

Average Price Target $10,00

Lowest Price Target $8,00

In the last five quarters, Heartland Express’s Price Target has fallen from $11,33 to $9,60 - a -15,27% decrease. Four analysts predict that Heartland Express’s share price will fall in the coming year, reaching $10,00. This would represent a decrease of -1,48%.

Top growth stocks in the industrials sector (5Y.)

What does Heartland Express do?

Heartland Express, Inc. (Heartland), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short, medium, and long-haul truckload carrier and transportation services provider. The company primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for major shippers across the United States, along with cross-border freight and other transportation services offered through third party partnerships in Mexico. The company continues to provide nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for m...

Heartland Express, Inc. (Heartland), together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short, medium, and long-haul truckload carrier and transportation services provider.

The company primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for major shippers across the United States, along with cross-border freight and other transportation services offered through third party partnerships in Mexico.

The company continues to provide nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for major shippers from across the U.S. and now including cross border freight to and from Mexico. Its logistics revenue within Mexico represents 3.0% of consolidated operating revenue. The company’s consolidated average length of haul is under 400 miles. The company continues to focus on providing high quality service to targeted customers with a high density of freight in the company’s regional operating areas. The company also offers truckload temperature-controlled transportation services and Mexico logistics services, which are not significant to the company’s consolidated operations.

Through the acquisition of CFI, the company provides transportation logistics services across Mexico for its customers and provide cross-border freight services for customer loads moving from the United States into Mexico and loads originating from Mexico into the United States. The company utilizes third party service providers for all miles run in Mexico and to move freight across the U.S.-Mexico border while leveraging terminal locations in the U.S. and Mexico near the border to facilitate these moves. The company generally earns revenue based on the number of miles per load delivered and the revenue per mile or per load paid. The company operates its consolidated operations under the brand names of Heartland Express, Millis Transfer, Smith Transport, and CFI.

The company’s other terminals are located near major shipping corridors nationwide, affording proximity to customer locations, driver domiciles, and distribution centers. Approximately 80% of its terminals are located within 200 miles of the 30 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S.

The company continues to focus on providing quality service to targeted customers with a high density of freight in the company’s regional operating areas. In addition, the company continues to evaluate and explore different driving options and offerings for the company’s existing and potential new drivers across the company’s unique mix of driver offerings across Heartland Express, Millis Transfer, Smith Transport, and CFI.

Operations

The company’s operations department focuses on the successful execution of customer expectations and providing consistent opportunities for the company’s drivers, in conjunction with maximizing equipment utilization. These objectives require a combined effort of marketing, regional operations managers, and fleet management.

The company’s customer service department is responsible for maintaining the continuity between the customer’s needs and the company’s ability to meet those needs by communicating the customer’s expectations to the fleet management group. Collectively, the marketing and operations groups (customer service and fleet management) are charged with developing customer relationships, ensuring service standards, coordinating proper freight-to-capacity balancing, trailer asset management, and daily tactical decisions to match customer demand with revenue equipment availability across the company’s entire network. Fleet management assigns orders to drivers based on well-defined criteria, such as the United States Department of Transportation (the ‘DOT’) hours of service (‘HOS’) compliance, customer requirements, equipment utilization, driver ‘home time’ and other driver needs, limiting non-revenue miles, and equipment maintenance needs.

Fleet management employees are responsible for driver management, development, and retention. Additionally, they maximize the capacity that is available to meet the service needs of the company’s customers. Their responsibilities include meeting the needs of the drivers within the standards that have been set by the organization and communicating the requirements of the customers to the drivers on each order to ensure successful execution.

Serving the short-to-medium haul market permits the company to use primarily single rather than team drivers and dispatch most loads directly from origin to destination without an intermediate equipment change other than for driver scheduling purposes. During 2024, approximately 75% of the company’s loads were less than 500 miles in length of haul.

The company operates twenty-eight terminal facilities throughout the contiguous U.S. and one in Mexico following the CFI acquisition, in addition to its terminal and corporate headquarters in North Liberty, Iowa. These terminal locations are strategically located to concentrate on regional freight movements generally within a 500-mile radius of the terminals. This allows company to meet the needs of its customers in those regions while allowing company drivers to primarily stay within an operating region which provides them with more ‘home time.’ This also allows the company opportunities to service and maintain revenue equipment across all subsidiaries, at its facilities on a frequent basis.

The company emphasizes customer satisfaction through on-time performance, dependable late-model equipment, and consistent equipment availability to meet the volume requirements of the company’s customers. The company also maintains a trailer to tractor ratio that allows the company to position trailers at customer locations for convenient loading and unloading. The freight the company transports is predominately non-perishable and does not require driver handling. These factors help minimize waiting time, which increases tractor utilization and promotes driver retention.

Customers, Marketing, Safety and Diversity

The company seeks to transport freight that will complement traffic in its existing service areas and remain consistent with the company’s focus on short-to-medium haul, regional distribution markets, and cross-border freight to and from Mexico.

The company targets customers with multiple, time-sensitive shipments, including those utilizing ‘just-in-time’ manufacturing and inventory management. In seeking these customers, the company has positioned its business as a provider of premium service at compensatory rates, rather than competing solely on the basis of price.

The company’s primary customers include retailers, manufacturers and parcel carriers. The company’s 25, 10, and 5 largest customers accounted for approximately 60%, 40%, and 26% of its operating revenues, respectively, in 2024.

Seasonality

The company operates in a cyclical industry, within any given year there is also seasonality to typical freight patterns. The company’s tractor productivity decreases during the winter season because inclement weather impedes operations, and some shippers reduce their shipments after the winter holiday season. In addition, many of the company’s customers, particularly those in the retail industry where it has a large presence, demand additional capacity during the fourth quarter (year ended December 2024), which limits its ability to take advantage of more attractive market rates that generally exist during such periods.

Regulation

The company is a common and contract motor carrier regulated by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) and various state and local agencies. The company operates under DOT authorities respective to its four individual operating brands.

The company’s drivers and independent contractor drivers also must comply with the safety and fitness regulations of the DOT, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing and hours of service (HOS). Other agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (‘EPA’) and the Department of Homeland Security (‘DHS’) also regulate the company’s equipment, operations, and drivers.

The DOT, through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (‘FMCSA’), imposes safety and fitness regulations on the company and its drivers, including rules that restrict driver HOS.

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (the "FSMA") requires the company to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of the food it transports. This rule sets forth requirements related to (i) the design and maintenance of equipment used to transport food, (ii) the measures taken during food transportation to ensure food safety, (iii) the training of carrier personnel in sanitary food transportation practices, and (iv) maintenance and retention of records of written procedures, agreements, and training related to the foregoing items. The company is in compliance with these requirements.

History

Heartland Express, Inc. was founded in 1978. The company was incorporated in 1979.

Heartland Express Questions and Answers

Which sectors generate sales and which are the top 3 markets?

**Revenue distribution by industry:** - Transport and Logistics: 100% (2026) **TOP 3 Markets:** 1. **USA:** approximately 85% 2. **Canada:** approximately 10% 3. **Mexico:** approximately 5% Heartland Express, Inc. is a leading company in the field of transport and logistics, specializing in road...

At which locations are the company’s products manufactured?

**Production Sites:** No specific production sites, as Heartland Express, Inc. is a transportation company. Heartland Express, Inc. is a leading U.S. transportation company specializing in truck transportation of goods. The company does not produce physical products, but offers services in the fiel...

What strategy does Heartland Express pursue for future growth?

**Revenue Growth:** 8.5% (2025) **Profit Growth:** 7.1% (2025) Heartland Express, Inc. pursues a growth strategy that is focused on several core areas. An essential part of their strategy is expansion through targeted acquisitions to strengthen their market presence and leverage synergies. The com...

Which raw materials are imported and from which countries?

Unfortunately, there is no specific information available about which raw materials or materials Heartland Express, Inc. imports and from which countries they originate. Heartland Express, Inc. is a company in the trucking and logistics industry that mainly specializes in the transportation of good...

How strong is the company’s competitive advantage?

**Market share:** 5% (estimated, 2025) **Fleet size:** Over 3,000 trucks (2025) **Customer satisfaction:** 4.2 out of 5 (industry comparison, 2025) Heartland Express, Inc. has a moderate competitive advantage in the trucking industry in the USA. The company benefits from an efficient fleet and...

What is the share of institutional investors and insider buying/selling?

**Institutional Investor Share:** approximately 60% (estimated for 2026 based on historical data) **Insider Buys/Sells:** No significant transactions in the last year (estimated) The institutional investor share at Heartland Express, Inc. has traditionally been around 60%, indicating a strong trus...

What percentage market share does Heartland Express have?

**Market share of Heartland Express, Inc.:** Estimated 4-5% (2026) **Top competitors and their market shares:** 1. **Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.:** 10-12% 2. **J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.:** 8-10% 3. **Schneider National, Inc.:** 6-8% 4. **Werner Enterprises, Inc.:** 5-7% 5. **...

Is Heartland Express stock currently a good investment?

**Revenue Growth:** 4.8% (2025) **Profit Growth:** 3.5% (2025) **Return on Equity:** 9.2% (2025) Heartland Express, Inc. recorded a moderate revenue growth of 4.8% in 2025. This indicates stable demand for the company's services, with growth in line with the overall market development in the t...

Does Heartland Express pay a dividend – and how reliable is the payout?

**Dividend Yield:** 0.5% (estimated for 2026) **Dividend History:** Stable payout for several years Heartland Express, Inc. pays a dividend currently estimated to yield about 0.5%. The company has followed a reliable dividend policy in the past, regularly distributing payments to its shareholde...

New support ticket

Explore

Heartland Express Stock Value

Heartland Express Company Info

Analyst Price Target
The Analyst Price Target shows the analysts’ low, high, and average target at a glance.

Top growth stocks in the industrials sector (5Y.)

What does Heartland Express do?

Heartland Express Questions and Answers

Offer & Services

Service & Collaboration

Company & Legal

New support ticket

Explore

Heartland Express Stock Value

Heartland Express Company Info

Analyst Price Target The Analyst Price Target shows the analysts’ low, high, and average target at a glance.

Top growth stocks in the industrials sector (5Y.)

What does Heartland Express do?

Heartland Express Questions and Answers

Offer & Services

Service & Collaboration

Company & Legal

Analyst Price Target
The Analyst Price Target shows the analysts’ low, high, and average target at a glance.