Hills Bank & Trust Co Grows Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 46,003 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 4,606 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Heartland Express by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 42,097 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 16,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 704,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,045,000 after purchasing an additional 31,045 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, Director James G. Pratt bought 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.96 per share, with a total value of $107,640.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,210.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.05 on Monday, reaching $12.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 34,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,422. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.63 and a 52-week high of $16.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $982.60 million, a P/E ratio of -72.82 and a beta of 0.69.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $274.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.82% and a negative net margin of 2.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 25th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

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.