Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Drops By 11.7%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, a drop of 11.7% from the September 15th total of 1,450,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 327,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group lowered Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.97 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $946.24 million, a PE ratio of -70.41 and a beta of 0.69. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $15.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.72.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.17% and a negative return on equity of 2.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $583,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 14.6% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 84,739 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter worth about $5,584,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after buying an additional 171,319 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 132.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 225,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,695,000 after buying an additional 128,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,702,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.