Heartland Reports Lacking Revenues In 4Q, Piper Raises PT

Piper Jaffray has published a research report on Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTLD) after the company reported lacking revenues in its 4Q earnings.

In the report, Piper Jaffray writes "HTLD reported 4Q10 EPS (1/20/11) of $0.17 (43.9% y-o-y growth) which was in line with consensus and a penny above our $0.16 estimate. Modest upside to our estimate resulted from (1) greater revenue and (2) cost control. HTLD's OR of 81.0% improved 510bp y-o-y however sequentially deteriorated from 77.2% in 3Q10 in a seasonally slower 4Q10. HTLD is adding tractors – mgmt discussing more adds in 2011 – however at this point most are for replacement vs. growth. We lack conviction in HTLD adding meaningful net tractors to its network to jumpstart growth and also believe new equipment could work against upside profitability potential near term."

Piper Jaffray maintains its Neutral rating and has raised the price target from $16 to $17.

Heartland Express closed Friday at $15.86.