Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 67.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,539 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter worth about $166,000. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at about $230,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $12.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.96. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $14.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $985.96 million, a PE ratio of -43.31 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $583,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,196,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,965,699.06. This trade represents a 4.36 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 203,750 shares of company stock worth $2,370,418 over the last 90 days. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.