Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Buys 63,074 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.95 per share, with a total value of $690,660.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Heartland Express Trading Up 9.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 661,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,406. The firm has a market capitalization of $932.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.52 and a beta of 0.71. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.63 and a fifty-two week high of $14.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on HTLD. UBS Group dropped 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, October 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 7.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Heartland Express by 6.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 266.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.