Michael John Sullivan Acquires 2,000 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Director Michael John Sullivan bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.53 per share, with a total value of $21,060.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 24,331 shares in the company, valued at $256,205.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $821.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. 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 results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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 $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. 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, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned 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 $13.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth about $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 9,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.