Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 290,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,619,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Heartland Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,857,387 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,325,000 after buying an additional 17,962 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,355 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 72.7% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,664,000 after buying an additional 485,658 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090,216 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after buying an additional 166,236 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 91.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 812,248 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,807,000 after buying an additional 386,961 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on HTLD. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.20.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $15.36 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.46 and a 200-day moving average of $11.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -27.43 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.99 and a 52-week high of $16.64.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -14.29%.

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.