Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD is Gate City Capital Management LLC’s 4th Largest Position

Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,192,807 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,962 shares during the quarter. Heartland Express comprises approximately 8.6% of Gate City Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Gate City Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $19,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Heartland Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,857,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,325,000 after acquiring an additional 17,962 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Heartland Express by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $17,755,000 after acquiring an additional 35,355 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 72.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after acquiring an additional 485,658 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Heartland Express by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,845,000 after acquiring an additional 166,236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Heartland Express by 91.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 812,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,807,000 after acquiring an additional 386,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.9%

HTLD opened at $15.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.43 and a beta of 1.31. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $16.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.30.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTLD. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.20.

Heartland Express Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.