Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Major Shareholder Purchases $527,194.02 in Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Rating) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 33,409 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.78 per share, with a total value of $527,194.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 17,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,789.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 15th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 9,620 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.78 per share, with a total value of $151,803.60.
• On Friday, February 10th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 2,152 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.99 per share, for a total transaction of $34,410.48.

Heartland Express Price Performance

HTLD opened at $16.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.66 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.66. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.78 and a 1 year high of $18.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $354.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.23 million. Heartland Express had a net margin of 13.80% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 138.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,171,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,823,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 745.0% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 176,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 155,995 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 55.0% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 437,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,084,000 after buying an additional 155,263 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 408,548 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,267,000 after acquiring an additional 151,385 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HTLD shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Heartland Express from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Heartland Express in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Heartland Express from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.17.

About Heartland Express

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Heartland Express, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of short-to-medium haul truckload carrier services. It offers long haul truckload and regional truckload transportation. The company was founded by Russell A. Gerdin in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, IA.