Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Large Volume Increase

Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 273,434 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 325,866 shares.The stock last traded at $9.66 and had previously closed at $9.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two research 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 company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $772.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.94 and a beta of 0.62. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.73.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is -47.06%.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd 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. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $327,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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.