Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin Acquires 63,074 Shares

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 63,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.88 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.17. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.60. The firm has a market cap of $932.58 million, a PE ratio of -40.97 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.31 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HTLD. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 23.3% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by 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.