Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Major Shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Buys 93,496 Shares

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 93,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $946,179.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 677,208 shares in the company, valued at $6,853,344.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% 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 Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.44 per share, with a total value of $919,764.00.
• On Thursday, February 22nd, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Heartland Express stock traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $9.94. 1,323,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 340,565. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $11.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.69. The company has a market cap of $785.56 million, a P/E ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.63 and a 1-year high of $17.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The business 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%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -47.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth approximately $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 133.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 10,327 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 7.5% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.