GW&K Investment Management LLC Has $9.46 Million Stock Holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 663,506 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 62,289 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.84% of Heartland Express worth $9,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $432,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 10.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,878 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 2,693 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 46,003 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 4,606 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 88,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.44 per share, with a total value of $919,764.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 583,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,093,953.28. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 93,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.81 per share, with a total value of $1,010,691.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 290,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,135,008.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 88,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 583,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,093,953.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 396,490 shares of company stock valued at $4,129,811. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $11.61 on Thursday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.63 and a 1-year high of $17.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The business had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.