Insider Buying: Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Buys 24,798 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Heartland Express CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 24,798 shares of the company's stock for approximately $203,095, increasing his total ownership by 1.69% to nearly 1.49 million shares.
• Heartland Express is currently experiencing a 4.5% decline in stock price, trading at $7.92, with a recent earnings report showing a larger loss per share than expected.
• Equities analysts have recently revised their price targets downward, with ratings ranging from sell to hold, and the consensus price target currently stands at $9.70.

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 24,798 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.19 per share, with a total value of $203,095.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,491,868 shares in the company, valued at $12,218,398.92. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Heartland Express Stock Down 4.5%

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $7.92. 799,706 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,190. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.05. The company has a market cap of $613.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.22 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.06). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.42% and a negative net margin of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $229.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.04) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 7.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 147,033 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 10,108 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.7% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 14,504 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,036 shares in the last quarter. Oxford Asset Management LLP bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 167.6% during the second quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 1,611,581 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $13,924,000 after buying an additional 1,009,388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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