Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Buys $10,774.80 in Stock

Key Points

• Heartland Express CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 1,314 shares of the company at an average cost of $8.20, totaling $10,774.80, increasing his ownership stake by 0.09%.
• The company's stock recently traded down 4.5%, with a current value of $7.92, and it has seen a 23.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Several firms have downgraded Heartland Express' stock ratings, with an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $9.70, reflecting a cautious outlook from analysts.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 1,314 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.20 per share, with a total value of $10,774.80. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,463,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,998,092.40. The trade was a 0.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Trading Down 4.5%

NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $7.92. The stock had a trading volume of 799,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 561,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $613.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.06. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $12.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.05.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.70.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Gate City Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 167.6% in the second quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,581 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,009,388 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth approximately $6,389,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter worth approximately $5,396,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,639,000 after acquiring an additional 285,838 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,287,000 after acquiring an additional 200,100 shares during the period. 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.

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