Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Sells 48,805 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. sold 48,805 shares of Heartland Express, reducing its stake by 60.6% to a total of 31,696 shares, valued at approximately $274,000.
• Analyst reports reflect a mixed outlook for Heartland Express, with upgrades and reductions in target prices leading to an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.70.
• Heartland Express recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.9%, despite having a negative net margin and quarterly revenue decrease of 23.4% year-over-year.

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 60.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,696 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 48,805 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 518,544 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 42,364 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 176,258 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 29,926 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 36,744 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 7,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 23,270 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 10,243 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $8.47 on Friday. 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 current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business's fifty day moving average price is $8.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $655.66 million, a PE ratio of -18.41 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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 4.42%. The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 23rd. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.39%.

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.

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