Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Major Shareholder Purchases 93,496 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 93,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.12 per share, for a total transaction of $946,179.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 677,208 shares in the company, valued at $6,853,344.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00.
• On Thursday, February 22nd, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a P/E ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on HTLD shares. StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 115.0% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 394,367 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after acquiring an additional 210,935 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.