Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Short Interest Update

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the December 15th total of 1,180,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 363,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918. Company insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth approximately $6,634,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth approximately $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth approximately $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Heartland Express by 243.2% during the second 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 during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Heartland Express by 159.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 78,237 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.22. The stock had a trading volume of 263,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,078. The company has a market capitalization of $880.74 million, a P/E ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.92. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $13.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HTLD. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

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.