Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin Buys 66,000 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 66,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.45 per share, with a total value of $689,700.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,419,307.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $9.94 on Wednesday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $17.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $785.56 million, a PE ratio of -58.47 and a beta of 0.62.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The business had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 104,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,878 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.