UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 969 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,259 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 969 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.10% of Heartland Express worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HTLD. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 73,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 178,227 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after buying an additional 24,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 40.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 9,243 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.49 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.04. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $14.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $901.93 million, a P/E ratio of -39.62 and a beta of 0.75.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%. The company had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 5,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.49 per share, for a total transaction of $59,862.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,534,872.98. The trade was a 0.41 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

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.