Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 30,010 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 196.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,273 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,010 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 0.06% of Heartland Express worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 2,189 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 149.2% during 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 last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 45,732 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,368 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,821 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 317.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Heartland Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,869,775. The trade was a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James G. Pratt purchased 6,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $9.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 482,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,067. The firm has a market cap of $724.23 million, a PE ratio of -25.61 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.58. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.86% and a negative return on equity of 3.46%. The business's revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is presently -22.22%.

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.