Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) stock surpassed its 200-day moving average following an upgrade from Zacks Research, improving its rating from "strong sell" to "hold."
• CEO Michael J. Gerdin recently acquired nearly 25,000 shares of the company's stock, increasing his ownership to approximately 1.49 million shares, reflecting a strong insider confidence.
• The company reported a revenue decline of 23.4% year-over-year with a loss of ($0.14) EPS, which was worse than expected, indicating financial struggles despite the recent stock price movements.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $8.56 and traded as high as $8.80. Heartland Express shares last traded at $8.79, with a volume of 905,532 shares changing hands.

HTLD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Baird R W upgraded Heartland Express to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $9.50.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 24,798 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.19 per share, for a total transaction of $203,095.62. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,218,398.92. This trade represents a 1.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 30,000 shares of company stock worth $245,752 in the last quarter. 40.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 185.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,673 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 1,261.6% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 12,472 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 11,556 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 3,345.5% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 12,576 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 12,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $680.43 million, a P/E ratio of -19.11 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) 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 net margin of 3.85% and a negative return on equity of 4.42%. The company's revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.04) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 23rd were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Heartland Express's payout ratio is -17.39%.

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.

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