Strs Ohio Invests $515,000 in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new stake in Heartland Express, purchasing 55,900 shares valued at approximately $515,000, representing 0.07% ownership in the company.
• Heartland Express has experienced a significant decline in revenue, reporting a 23.4% year-over-year decrease, and missed analysts' EPS estimates by $0.06 in its latest quarterly earnings report.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.02 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.0% and will be paid out on October 3rd.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 55,900 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $515,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.07% of Heartland Express at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 317.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in Heartland Express by 3,345.5% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 12,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at $117,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $9.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $8.42. 859,749 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,698. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.11 and a fifty-two week high of $12.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $651.79 million, a PE ratio of -18.30 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $8.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.63.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is -17.39%.

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.