Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 10,800 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 3.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271,390 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 10,800 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Heartland Express worth $2,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 18.5% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 19,298 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 3,009 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 62.6% in the 2nd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 20,629 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 7,939 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $462,000. Creative Planning grew its position in Heartland Express by 274.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 77,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 57,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cherokee Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $705,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $7.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $585.51 million, a P/E ratio of -16.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $6.99 and a one year high of $12.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.05 and a 200 day moving average of $8.42.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $172.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.68 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $8.75.

Heartland Express 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.