Bastion Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Key Points

• Bastion Asset Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in Heartland Express, purchasing 154,047 shares valued at approximately $1.54 million, now holding 0.20% of the company.
• Major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust increased its position by 16.01% with the acquisition of 167,644 shares at around $8.95 each, bringing its total holdings to over $10 million.
• Heartland Express reported a loss of $0.14 earnings per share for its latest quarter, missing analysts' estimates, with revenue down 23.4% year-over-year.

Bastion Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 154,047 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $1,537,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.20% of Heartland Express at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position 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. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 11,556 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.63.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 148,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.50 per share, with a total value of $1,260,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 438,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,725,397. This represents a 51.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of HTLD traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $8.39. The company had a trading volume of 684,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,068. The stock has a market cap of $659.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $13.39.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 4.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is currently -17.39%.

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.