Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Trading Down 3% – Here’s Why

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HTLD. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.5 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $877.63 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.60 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.14) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 35,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,311,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 2.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918 over the last three months. Company insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 85.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 14.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 37,199 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 4,771 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 33.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 6.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 100,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.