Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Position Trimmed by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,320 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 22,628 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of Heartland Express worth $2,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at about $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 171,319 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 82.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 64,522 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $687,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HTLD. Barclays increased their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Trading Up 1.2 %

Heartland Express stock opened at $12.37 on Friday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $971.05 million, a P/E ratio of -42.31 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.92.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 35,960 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.97 per share, for a total transaction of $430,441.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,311,913 shares in the company, valued at $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 2.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 203,750 shares of company stock worth $2,370,418. Insiders own 39.60% 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.