Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Makes New $325,000 Investment in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd has acquired a new stake in Heartland Express, purchasing 35,289 shares valued at approximately $325,000 in the first quarter.
• Heartland Express reported a loss of $0.14 EPS for the last quarter, missing analysts' estimates, and its revenue declined by 23.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, set for distribution on October 3rd, with a yield of 0.9%.

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 35,289 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in Heartland Express by 3,345.5% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 12,211 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 243.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on HTLD. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.62. 435,868 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 566,911. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $12.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.68. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $667.27 million, a PE ratio of -18.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The company's revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is presently -17.39%.

About Heartland Express

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.