Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Acquires $1,010,691.76 in Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 93,496 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $1,010,691.76. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 290,010 shares in the company, valued at $3,135,008.10. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $10.77 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.35 and a beta of 0.66. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) 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 analyst estimates of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on HTLD. StockNews.com downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Heartland Express by 99.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,224,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 609,769 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at $8,559,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,172,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,241,000 after purchasing an additional 264,313 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 115.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 210,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,662,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently 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.