31,512 Shares in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Purchased by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 23.3% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $327,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Heartland Express by 74.1% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after buying an additional 9,884 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in Heartland Express by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $414,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $13.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 672,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,586. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.94 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 2.82%. The business’s revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HTLD. UBS Group cut shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 31,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.97 per share, for a total transaction of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,422.73. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 31,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.97 per share, for a total transaction of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 88,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,422.73. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 66,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.45 per share, with a total value of $689,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,419,307.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 405,490 shares of company stock worth $4,237,451 over the last ninety days. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heartland Express 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.