Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Buys 167,644 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 167,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.95 per share, for a total transaction of $1,500,413.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,214,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,869,775. This trade represents a 16.01% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more 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 Wednesday, May 7th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 148,272 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.70 per share, with a total value of $1,141,694.40.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $9.14 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $717.76 million, a P/E ratio of -24.70 and a beta of 1.04. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $13.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.46. 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 (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. The firm’s revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 64,185 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth about $288,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 45,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 78,237 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.