Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Purchases 88,100 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 88,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 583,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,093,953.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, April 29th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 93,496 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.12 per share, for a total transaction of $946,179.52.
• On Thursday, February 22nd, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 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 Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $10.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $821.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.18 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $11.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.68. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.63 and a 1-year high of $17.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 133.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 10,327 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 9,884 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $327,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.