Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Purchases 8,089 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 8,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.74 per share, with a total value of $86,875.86. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 849,078 shares in the company, valued at $9,119,097.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, April 29th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 93,496 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $946,179.52.
• On Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were 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 bought 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 497,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,951. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $17.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.57. 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 posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 115.0% during 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 buying an additional 210,935 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 25,597 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

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.