Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Down 3% – Here’s What Happened

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)’s share price fell 3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $11.17 and last traded at $11.13. 25,001 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 319,070 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HTLD. Barclays increased their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group 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, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $880.77 million, a P/E ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.92.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%. The company had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Heartland Express’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.95 per share, with a total value of $690,660.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 39,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Heartland Express by 159.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 78,237 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 326.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 64,185 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Heartland Express by 29.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 65,255 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 14,921 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 175.5% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 66,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.