KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys 45,600 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 490.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,900 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,600 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.07% of Heartland Express worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $117,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,345 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 15,251 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 178,471.4% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 49,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $268,800. This represents a 28.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 167,644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.53. 904,078 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 580,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.32. The stock has a market cap of $591.48 million, a P/E ratio of -16.37 and a beta of 1.07. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.11 and a 1-year high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express's payout ratio is presently -17.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.63.

Heartland Express Company 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.