Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Major Shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust Acquires 49,506 Shares

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $12.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.91. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter worth approximately $6,634,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 171,319 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 175.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 66,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.