Comerica Bank Trims Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,444 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HTLD. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth about $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 44.4% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $8.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $655.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.41 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.74. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.11 and a 1-year high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $9.70.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at $12,218,398.92. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders acquired 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752. 40.70% 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.