PharVision Advisers LLC Makes New $335,000 Investment in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• PharVision Advisers LLC has invested approximately $335,000 in Heartland Express, acquiring 36,339 shares in the transportation company during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their positions in Heartland Express, with holdings by hedge funds now representing 53.45% of the company's stock.
• Heartland Express reported a loss of $0.14 per share, missing consensus estimates, and experienced a 23.4% year-over-year decline in revenue.

PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 36,339 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 173.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the first 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. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 3,345.5% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 12,211 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth $117,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.18 on Thursday, reaching $8.65. The company had a trading volume of 141,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 567,893. The firm has a market cap of $669.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.84 and a beta of 1.09. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.11 and a fifty-two week high of $12.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 4.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders bought 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HTLD. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.70.

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.