Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 204,320 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 22,628 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $2,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 85.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 5,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.49 per share, for a total transaction of $59,862.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. This trade represents a 0.41 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918. Insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on HTLD shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $877.60 million, a PE ratio of -38.55 and a beta of 0.77. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $9.63 and a 52-week high of $13.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -27.59%.

Heartland Express 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.