Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $327,000 in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Up 4.6 %

HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a P/E ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.41 and its 200 day moving average is $12.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 66,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $689,700.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,419,307.30. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 31,200 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.97 per share, with a total value of $311,064.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,422.73. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 66,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $689,700.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,419,307.30. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 295,729 shares of company stock worth $3,072,787 in the last quarter. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HTLD. Barclays cut their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

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.