Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 310,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 154,244 shares of company stock worth $1,764,464 over the last quarter. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 64.6% in the 2nd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,984 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth approximately $62,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $124,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $12.26 on Tuesday. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $14.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased 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, November 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.