Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Major Shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Purchases 167,644 Shares

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 167,644 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.95 per share, with a total value of $1,500,413.80. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,214,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,869,775. This represents a 16.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 7th, Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 148,272 shares of Heartland Express stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $7.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,141,694.40.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $9.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.48. The company has a market cap of $716.19 million, a P/E ratio of -24.65 and a beta of 1.04. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.11 and a fifty-two week high of $13.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The company’s revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -22.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 187.5% during the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 38,030 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 24,804 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 47,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 4,160 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $5,396,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 321.1% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 80,711 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 61,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 165.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,645 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 45,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on HTLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

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.