Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $2.21 Million Stake in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,424 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,735 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $2,207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Heartland Express by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,857,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,325,000 after purchasing an additional 17,962 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,664,000 after purchasing an additional 485,658 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 91.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 812,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,807,000 after buying an additional 386,961 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 150.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 799,491 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,700,000 after buying an additional 480,488 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 599,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,228 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTLD. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.20.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $15.78 on Thursday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $16.64. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.18 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.07.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The firm had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS 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.