Creative Planning Buys 57,080 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Creative Planning grew its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 274.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,080 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning owned about 0.10% of Heartland Express worth $673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3,345.5% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 12,211 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% in 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. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at $133,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Trading Up 5.9%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $8.82 on Thursday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.99 and a 12-month high of $12.63. The firm has a market cap of $683.11 million, a P/E ratio of -19.60 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The transportation company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 4.01% and a negative return on equity of 4.37%. The company had revenue of $172.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.68 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on HTLD. Zacks Research raised shares of Heartland Express from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target 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.