Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Short Interest Down 11.7% in September

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a large 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. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 327,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HTLD shares. UBS Group cut Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.00.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after acquiring an additional 84,739 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,584,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Heartland Express by 243.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,702,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Trading Up 3.8 %

HTLD traded up $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 303,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,785. The firm has a market capitalization of $946.24 million, a P/E ratio of -70.47 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $12.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.72.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

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.