Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Acquires 35,960 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 35,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,311,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 2.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $12.42 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $14.60.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Heartland Express by 74.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 9,884 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter worth approximately $673,000. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 23.3% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 11.9% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 33,454 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 3,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 6.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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.