Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Grows By 16.9%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a growth of 16.9% from the December 15th total of 1,180,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 363,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 5,210 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $11.49 per share, with a total value of $59,862.90. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. The trade was a 0.41 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HTLD. CWM LLC grew its stake in Heartland Express by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.22. 263,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,078. Heartland Express has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $13.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.74 and a 200 day moving average of $11.92. The stock has a market cap of $880.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.