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

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.74 per share, for a total transaction of $86,875.86. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 849,078 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,119,097.72. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% 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 acquired 93,496 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.12 per share, for a total transaction of $946,179.52.
• On Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.44 per share, with a total value of $919,764.00.
• On Thursday, February 22nd, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Price Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $864.59 million, a P/E ratio of -64.35 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.26 and its 200 day moving average is $12.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded 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 for the company in a research 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 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Heartland Express by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 210,935 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,559,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 25,597 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.