KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Increases Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 490.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,600 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Heartland Express by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,375 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,236,000 after purchasing an additional 161,222 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth about $2,694,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Down 3.4%

HTLD opened at $7.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $8.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.38. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $13.23. The stock has a market cap of $615.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.04 and a beta of 1.05.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 4.42%. The business had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) EPS. Heartland Express’s revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is presently -17.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HTLD. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.96 per share, with a total value of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $268,800. The trade was a 28.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 167,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,214,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,869,775. This represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

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.