Lesa Sroufe & Co Sells 3,577 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Lesa Sroufe & Co decreased its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 110,227 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,577 shares during the quarter. Heartland Express accounts for 1.6% of Lesa Sroufe & Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Lesa Sroufe & Co’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $1,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Up 1.5 %

HTLD stock opened at $10.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.89. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $824.28 million, a PE ratio of 57.94 and a beta of 0.62.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 1.71%. The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.