Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD Shares Acquired by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 282,190 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 42,110 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.36% of Heartland Express worth $2,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 173.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 317.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,236 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $134,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 11,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at about $117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on HTLD shares. Baird R W raised Heartland Express to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.70.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $203,095.62. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 30,000 shares of company stock valued at $245,752. Company insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 4.5%

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $7.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.03. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $12.85. The company has a market cap of $613.09 million, a PE ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.06.

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

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.