Heartland Express, Inc. logo HTLD - Heartland Express, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Hold DETAILS
STRONG
BUY
0
BUY 4
HOLD 14
SELL 4
STRONG
SELL
0
| PRICE TARGET: $13.25 DETAILS
HIGH: $15.00
LOW: $12.00
MEDIAN: $13.00
CONSENSUS: $13.25
UPSIDE: 23.26%
AlphaVal

AlphaVal

Deterministic, archetype-aware fair value

Cyclical & Capital-Intensive 80% confidence

Primary model: Normalized Earnings × Cycle Multiple

Valuation Signal Overvalued Strong
Trading 280.2% above fair value
Current Price $10.75
Bear Case $2.06 80.9% downside ($2.06 - $10.75) / $10.75 = -80.9% $0.51 × 4x
Fair Value $2.83 73.7% downside ($2.83 - $10.75) / $10.75 = -73.7% $0.51 × 6x
Bull Case $3.60 66.5% downside ($3.60 - $10.75) / $10.75 = -66.5% $0.51 × 7x

Adjust Assumptions

5.5x
0.51$

Key Value Driver

Through-cycle normalized EPS ($0.51)

Implied Market Multiple 20.9x

Plain-Language Summary

Using 7-year normalized EPS of $0.51 at a 6x cycle multiple, the base-case value is $2.83 per share. P/TBV cross-check: 2.3x.

Analyst Consensus (External Reference)

Never blended into the bear/base/bull estimates above -- shown only as an outside comparison.

Average Target (22 analysts) $13.25
Analyst Range $12.00 – $15.00
Divergence from AlphaVal 79%

Warnings

⚠ This company has a built-in lending arm whose debt is mixed in with the main business. We capped the debt adjustment to avoid overstating what the core business owes.
⚠ Price-to-book value of 2.3x is above the normal range for this type of business (0.7x-2.0x). The stock may already price in a strong cycle.
ℹ This company has heavy ongoing investment costs. Valuation shortcuts that ignore those costs can make the stock look cheaper than it really is.
ℹ Wall Street's average price target is $13.25 (from 22 analysts). Our estimate is 79% below the consensus -- consider that gap carefully.

Key Risks

  • Standard 10-year DCF produces unreliable terminal values for cyclicals
  • 'Cheap' P/E at cycle peak is the most common value trap — normalize first
  • Captive finance subsidiaries have different risk profiles from manufacturing