Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Heartland Express worth $1,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 196.6% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,273 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 30,010 shares during the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the first quarter worth about $999,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 1.9% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 66,459 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 149.2% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,681 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 29,145 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of HTLD opened at $8.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $654.32 million, a P/E ratio of -23.14 and a beta of 1.05. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $13.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.52.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.86% and a negative return on equity of 3.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 148,272 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.50 per share, with a total value of $1,260,312.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,725,397. This represents a 51.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 167,644 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. The trade was a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232. Insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.75.

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.