Enhancing Capital LLC Invests $533,000 in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Key Points

• Enhancing Capital LLC has purchased 57,765 shares of Heartland Express, valued at approximately $533,000, marking a new position for the institutional investor in the transportation company.
• Heartland Express recently experienced a negative earnings report, reporting a loss per share of ($0.14) and revenue of $210.39 million, which missed analyst estimates.
• Analysts have changed their ratings on Heartland Express, with multiple firms including Barclays and JPMorgan lowering their price targets, contributing to an overall consensus rating of "Hold" for the stock.

Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 57,765 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $533,000. Enhancing Capital LLC owned 0.07% of Heartland Express at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1,261.6% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,556 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 243.6% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 44.4% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,858 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.70.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $8.29. 1,302,235 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 654,810. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $641.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.56 and a 200-day moving average of $9.09. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $12.85.

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

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.