Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Issues Earnings Results

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02, Zacks reports. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%.

Heartland Express Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of HTLD stock traded down $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $11.34. 86,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $889.80 million, a PE ratio of -39.31 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.91. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLD has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays increased 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 dropped 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, October 30th. 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.75.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 5,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.49 per share, for a total transaction of $59,862.90. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. This represents a 0.41 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

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.