Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ: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 grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 165.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,645 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 45,934 shares during the period. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Heartland Express worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Heartland Express by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,338,000 after buying an additional 123,399 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 6.8% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,257 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,844,000 after purchasing an additional 60,968 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth $6,389,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 285,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 590,893 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 185,718 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HTLD. Wall Street Zen cut Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on 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. decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.70.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of HTLD opened at $8.31 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $8.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.11. The stock has a market cap of $643.28 million, a PE ratio of -18.06 and a beta of 1.06. 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 current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

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 return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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