Michael J. Gerdin Purchases 63,074 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 63,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Up 9.2 %

Shares of HTLD stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 661,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $932.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.52 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $11.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.78. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.63 and a 1-year high of $14.60.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased 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, October 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 64.6% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 266.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth about $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 23.3% in the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares in the last quarter. 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.