Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Director Acquires 2,000 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Director Michael John Sullivan acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.53 per share, with a total value of $21,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,205.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $17.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 115.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after buying an additional 210,935 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 141.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 25,597 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.