Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD Shares Purchased by Dean Capital Management

Key Points

• Dean Capital Management increased its stake in Heartland Express by 111.7%, now holding 185,514 shares valued at approximately $1.71 million.
• Analysts have recently downgraded their target price for Heartland Express, with Barclays lowering it from $9.00 to $8.00, while the overall average target price is now $9.70.
• Heartland Express reported a negative earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.14) for its last quarter, missing estimates, and experienced a 23.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Dean Capital Management boosted its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 111.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,514 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 97,877 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management owned about 0.24% of Heartland Express worth $1,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $133,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at about $335,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 588,417 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,425,000 after purchasing an additional 7,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.70.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, with a total value 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. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $8.63 on Tuesday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $12.85. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $8.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $668.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.76 and a beta of 1.09.

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 company had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.04) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

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.

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