Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Expands By 44.9%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, an increase of 44.9% from the May 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 604,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,338,000 after acquiring an additional 123,399 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 6.8% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 959,257 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,844,000 after purchasing an additional 60,968 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $8,195,000 after purchasing an additional 63,493 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 157,892 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $6,389,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $8.96. The company had a trading volume of 413,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 442,135. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.99. The company has a market capitalization of $703.84 million, a PE ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 1.07. Heartland Express has a one year low of $7.11 and a one year high of $13.67.

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

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.22%.

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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