David Paul Millis Sells 31,402 Shares of Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the sale, the director owned 28,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $14.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.39. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.99 and a 1-year high of $16.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -25.77 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.70% and a negative net margin of 5.69%.The company had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $177.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Heartland Express by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $907,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $462,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Friday, March 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.20.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.