Inspire Investing LLC Raises Stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 35,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,311,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,703,598.61. This represents a 2.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 in the last 90 days. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Heartland Express Trading Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $11.56 on Friday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $13.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.65 and a 200-day moving average of $11.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $907.43 million, a P/E ratio of -39.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Heartland Express Company 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.