This study investigated the sensitivity and specificity of identifying heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) from measurements of the intensity and timing of arterial pulse waves. Previously validated methods combining ultrafast B-mode ultrasound, plane-wave transmission, singular value decomposition and speckle tracking were used to characterise the compression and decompression ("S" and "D") waves occurring in early and late systole, respectively, in carotid arteries of outpatients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40%, determined by echocardiography, and signs and symptoms of heart failure, or with LVEF ≥50% and no signs or symptoms of heart failure. On average, the HFrEF group had significantly reduced S-wave intensity and energy, a greater interval between the R wave of the ECG and the S wave, a reduced interval between the S and D waves, and an increase in the S-wave shift, a novel metric that characterises the shift in timing of the S-wave away from the R wave of the ECG and towards the D wave (all p<0.01). Receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) were used to quantify for the first time how well wave metrics classified individual participants. S-wave intensity and energy gave areas under the ROC of 0.76-0.83, the ECG- S wave interval gave 0.85-0.88, and the S-wave shift gave 0.88-0.92. Hence the methods, which are simple to use and do not require complex interpretation, provide sensitive and specific identification of HFrEF. If similar results were obtained in primary care, they could form the basis of techniques for heart failure screening.