Michael J. Gerdin Purchases 35,960 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Stock

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 35,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.97 per share, for a total transaction of $430,441.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,311,913 shares in the company, valued at $15,703,598.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $12.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.17. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $14.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.85. The firm has a market cap of $992.24 million, a PE ratio of -43.59 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.14) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 64.6% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at about $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the third quarter worth about $124,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $166,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

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.