Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Purchases 35,960 Shares of Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 35,960 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.97 per share, with a total value of $430,441.20. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,311,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.6 %

Heartland Express stock opened at $12.64 on Thursday. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $14.60. The stock has a market cap of $992.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.59 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. Heartland Express’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on HTLD. UBS Group reduced their target price 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, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the first quarter worth about $673,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 62,172 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 14.6% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 666,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,960,000 after purchasing an additional 84,739 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth approximately $5,584,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Heartland Express by 82.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after buying an additional 64,522 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

About Heartland Express

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.