Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Purchases 93,496 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 93,496 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.12 per share, for a total transaction of $946,179.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 677,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,853,344.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, April 26th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00.
• On Thursday, February 22nd, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87.

Heartland Express Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.63 and a 12-month high of $17.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a PE ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.68.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on HTLD shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 74.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 9,884 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 0.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 605,175 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,226,000 after purchasing an additional 4,955 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 43.0% in the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 58,015 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 17,457 shares during the last quarter. Dean Capital Management increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 150,014 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,139,000 after purchasing an additional 18,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $640,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% 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.