Bastion Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Shares 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 shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,375 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,236,000 after acquiring an additional 161,222 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $2,694,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 148,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.50 per share, for a total transaction of $1,260,312.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 438,282 shares in the company, valued at $3,725,397. This trade represents a 51.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232 in the last quarter. 40.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $8.02. 293,202 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 544,481. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.95. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $13.23. The company has a market cap of $630.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.43 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $8.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.38.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) 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). The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -17.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HTLD shares. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.63.

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.