Insider Buying: Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Buys 1,314 Shares of 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 business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.20 per share, for a total transaction of $10,774.80. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.76. The company had a trading volume of 619,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 729,936. The company's 50 day moving average price is $8.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $678.11 million, a P/E ratio of -19.04 and a beta of 1.06. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.11 and a 52-week high of $12.85.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%.Heartland Express's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 185.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 3,036 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1,261.6% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 11,556 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3,345.5% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 12,211 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the first quarter valued at about $117,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W raised shares of Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.70.

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.