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

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

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 5.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 over the last quarter. 39.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the second quarter worth $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 33.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.22. The stock had a trading volume of 263,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,078. The firm has a market capitalization of $880.74 million, a P/E ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. 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 has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $13.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.92.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group decreased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

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.