Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Key Points

• Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 165.8% in the first quarter, now owning 73,645 shares worth approximately $679,000.
• Analysts have shown a mixed outlook, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from "hold" to "sell," while others have set varying target prices, with an average target price of $9.70.
• Heartland Express reported a revenue decline of 23.4% year-over-year, posting an earnings per share of (0.14), which was below analysts' expectations.

Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 165.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,645 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 45,934 shares during the quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Heartland Express worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,556 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $117,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 13,858 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:HTLD traded down $0.1750 on Wednesday, reaching $8.2550. 211,748 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,091. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $639.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.95 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.53 and a 200-day moving average of $9.03. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.11 and a 52-week high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $9.70.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $203,095.62. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,218,398.92. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders purchased 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

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.