Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 60,968 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Heartland Express by 6.8%, now holding 959,257 shares valued at approximately $8.84 million.
• Heartland Express reported a loss of $0.14 EPS for the latest quarter, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue down 23.4% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed views on Heartland Express, with some raising their ratings, while others, like JPMorgan, downgraded their price target significantly to $9.00.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 959,257 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 60,968 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.22% of Heartland Express worth $8,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 2,189 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 196.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 45,273 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 30,010 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,681 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 29,145 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Heartland Express by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,713 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in Heartland Express by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,368 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,821 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HTLD. Barclays reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.59. The company had a trading volume of 355,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,754. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $12.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $664.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.67 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

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.