Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 256,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,998 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $3,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at about $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.5 %

HTLD stock opened at $12.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $962.41 million, a P/E ratio of -42.28 and a beta of 0.71. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 35,960 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,311,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,703,598.61. The trade was a 2.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 154,244 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,464 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

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.