Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Bought by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 100,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,804 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.13% of Heartland Express worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 64.6% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 266.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 23.3% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at $13,965,699.06. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD opened at $12.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $952.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.88 and a beta of 0.69. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.63 and a 52-week high of $15.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.73.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 2.84%. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

About Heartland Express

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.