Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Buys 8,089 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.74 per share, with a total value of $86,875.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 849,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,119,097.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 Monday, April 29th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 93,496 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $946,179.52.
• On Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were bought 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 acquired 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $11.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $17.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.54. The stock has a market cap of $885.18 million, a P/E ratio of -65.88 and a beta of 0.66.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The firm had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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, April 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 23.3% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the third quarter worth $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the third quarter worth $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position 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 worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.