Barclays PLC Buys 64,185 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 326.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,185 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.11% of Heartland Express worth $1,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the third quarter worth $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at about $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on HTLD. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.82 and a 200-day moving average of $12.01. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $871.32 million, a PE ratio of -38.28 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.95 per share, with a total value of $690,660.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 over the last ninety days. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.