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

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 285.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,428 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Heartland Express by 185.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth about $89,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Heartland Express by 51.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 3,918 shares during the period. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth about $101,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HTLD shares. Barclays increased their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $16.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.81 and its 200-day moving average is $10.94. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.99 and a 12 month high of $16.29.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.