AlphaQuest LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly increased its position in Heartland Express, owning approximately 80,711 shares after a 321.1% increase in the first quarter, valued at $744,000.
• Heartland Express reported a quarterly loss of ($0.14) earnings per share, missing estimates, with revenue down 23.4% year-over-year.
• Several analysts have downgraded Heartland Express, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a revised average price target of $9.70.

AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 321.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,711 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 61,546 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned 0.10% of Heartland Express worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 44.4% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,858 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.02 on Friday, reaching $8.60. The stock had a trading volume of 179,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 566,429. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.90. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $12.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $665.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.64 and a beta of 1.06.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders bought 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752. 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.