New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 97,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,504 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 99.2% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after buying an additional 609,769 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,559,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,171,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after acquiring an additional 210,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 55.0% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 437,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 155,263 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $10.34 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $11.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $817.17 million, a PE ratio of 57.44 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.00 and a 1-year high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $275.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.36 million. Heartland Express had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 1.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.75.

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.