Lesa Sroufe & Co Makes New Investment in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 108,325 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $999,000. Lesa Sroufe & Co owned about 0.14% of Heartland Express at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,538 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 66,459 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 8.3% during the 4th 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. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James G. Pratt acquired 6,571 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase 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 Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,214,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $8.96 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.96. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $13.67. The company has a market cap of $703.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. Heartland Express's revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HTLD. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 note on Thursday, May 1st.

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.

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