Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Insider Buying Activity

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. 273,434 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 325,866 shares.The stock last traded at $9.66 and had previously closed at $9.96.

Specifically, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 14,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 31,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $9.97 per share, with a total value of $311,064.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 88,909 shares in the company, valued at $886,422.73. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $12.39 per share, with a total value of $185,019.87. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,980,727.35. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 295,729 shares of company stock valued at $3,072,787 in the last ninety days. 39.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Heartland Express Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $270.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $263.92 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 133.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 10,327 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 74.1% during the 1st 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. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at $327,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.