Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the December 15th total of 1,180,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 363,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HTLD shares. UBS Group 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, October 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.22. 263,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 335,078. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.92. The stock has a market cap of $880.74 million, a PE ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $13.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -27.59%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 5,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.49 per share, with a total value of $59,862.90. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. This trade represents a 0.41 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter worth about $5,584,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 326.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 64,185 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after buying an additional 64,522 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 175.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 66,311 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter worth $687,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.