Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin Buys 14,109 Shares

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 14,109 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.24 per share, for a total transaction of $144,476.16. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 196,514 shares in the company, valued at $2,012,303.36. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Heartland Express Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $10.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.15 million, a P/E ratio of -63.35 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.60. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the firm posted $0.16 earnings per share. Heartland Express’s revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 115.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 210,935 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth about $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% during the third 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. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 141.6% during 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 in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.