Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $327,000 Investment in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 22,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,327 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter worth $363,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.63 and a 52-week high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 31,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.97 per share, with a total value of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,422.73. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,980,727.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 295,729 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,787 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.