102,481 Shares in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 102,481 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 12,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,905 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $12.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $961.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.43 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.99 and a 12 month high of $16.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.83.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.98% and a negative return on equity of 0.92%. The company had revenue of $152.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $185.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. The company’s revenue was down 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, Director David Millis sold 31,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total value of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 41.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.00.

Heartland Express 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.