Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Short Interest Update

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, a growth of 21.6% from the October 31st total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 344,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.05 on Monday, reaching $12.72. The company had a trading volume of 392,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,067. The stock has a market capitalization of $998.13 million, a P/E ratio of -43.84 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.84 and its 200 day moving average is $11.99. Heartland Express has a 52-week low of $9.63 and a 52-week high of $14.60. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 203,750 shares of company stock worth $2,370,418. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 64,185 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $802,000 after acquiring an additional 14,921 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 175.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 66,311 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth $6,634,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HTLD. UBS Group lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their target price 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 issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

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.