Brandes Investment Partners LP Acquires 4,808 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 33.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 14.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 84,739 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,584,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 171,319 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 132.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 225,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,695,000 after acquiring an additional 128,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter worth approximately $2,702,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 50,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 39.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Heartland Express Stock Up 1.7 %

Heartland Express stock opened at $12.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $970.75 million, a PE ratio of -72.24 and a beta of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.27 and its 200 day moving average is $11.73. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $15.56.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -47.06%.

About Heartland Express

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.