Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Expands By 27.1%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,360,000 shares, a growth of 27.1% from the April 30th total of 1,070,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 609,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.1%

Heartland Express stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $8.81. The company had a trading volume of 367,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,471. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Heartland Express has a 12-month low of $7.11 and a 12-month high of $13.67. The firm has a market cap of $692.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.81 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.21.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. Heartland Express's quarterly revenue was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 148,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,141,694.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,046,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,060,791.20. This represents a 16.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt purchased 6,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.96 per share, for a total transaction of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,800. This represents a 28.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 619,031 shares of company stock valued at $5,125,232 over the last quarter. 40.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 10.0% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 43,354 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,959 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at about $515,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express in the first quarter valued at about $907,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 353,417 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 7,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management increased its position in Heartland Express by 111.7% in the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 185,514 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 97,877 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on HTLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.