Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 61.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,918 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 92,491 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.07% of Heartland Express worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 173.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 317.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 243.6% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $203,095.62. Following the purchase, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders acquired 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.3%

Heartland Express stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.47. The company had a trading volume of 423,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 654,435. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.71. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $12.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $655.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 23rd. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on 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, Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.70.

Heartland Express 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.