Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s share price traded down 3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.17 and last traded at $11.13. 25,001 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 319,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $880.77 million, a P/E ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918 over the last ninety days. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 39,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 2,196 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in Heartland Express by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Heartland Express by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 100,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 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.