Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Buys $144,476.16 in Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 14,109 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.24 per share, with a total value of $144,476.16. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 196,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,303.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $10.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.60. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $851.15 million, a PE ratio of -63.35 and a beta of 0.66.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 1.50% and a negative net margin of 1.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the third quarter valued at about $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Heartland Express by 74.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 9,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

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.