Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,536 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,271 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 243.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,981,000 after buying an additional 171,319 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $316,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 14.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 37,199 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on HTLD shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $11.37 on Friday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The stock has a market cap of $892.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.73 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. Analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -21.62%.

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.