GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 317.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,236 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,639,000 after buying an additional 285,838 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,694,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,287,000 after purchasing an additional 200,100 shares during the last quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 590,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 185,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 100.8% in the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 365,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 183,450 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 148,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,141,694.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,046,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,060,791.20. This trade represents a 16.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt bought 6,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.96 per share, with a total value of $58,876.16. Following the purchase, the director now owns 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,800. This represents a 28.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232 over the last three months. 40.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.8%

HTLD opened at $8.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $679.49 million, a P/E ratio of -24.03 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.89. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.46% and a negative net margin of 2.86%. The business had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.22%.

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.