Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 74,855 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 57.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 74,855 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Heartland Express worth $618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 326.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 64,185 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 78,237 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 175.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after buying an additional 66,311 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 67.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 21,539 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Heartland Express by 7.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $11.39 on Friday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $894.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.78 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.79.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -21.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on HTLD. Barclays boosted their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

About Heartland Express

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.