Michael J. Gerdin Purchases 31,200 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 31,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.97 per share, with a total value of $311,064.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,422.73. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $9.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,323,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 340,565. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $17.08. 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 simple moving average of $11.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.69. The stock has a market cap of $785.56 million, a P/E ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter valued at about $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

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.