Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Bought by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,522 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.18% of Heartland Express worth $1,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Heartland Express by 6.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 100,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter worth $5,584,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at $166,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 11.8% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth about $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.9 %

HTLD opened at $11.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $894.07 million, a PE ratio of -66.53 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $15.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $12.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.73.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 2.84%. The business had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $583,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at $13,965,699.06. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

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.