Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Acquires 148,272 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 148,272 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.70 per share, with a total value of $1,141,694.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,046,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,060,791.20. The trade was a 16.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $8.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $664.36 million, a P/E ratio of -22.86 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $7.11 and a 1 year high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The company’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.6% during the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 12,987 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,844,000 after purchasing an additional 60,968 shares during the period. Bastion Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,537,000. Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 111.9% in the first quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 116,796 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after buying an additional 61,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 490.3% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 54,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 45,600 shares during the period. 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.