Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Announces Earnings Results

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The transportation company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02, Zacks reports. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%.

Heartland Express Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.55. The company had a trading volume of 812,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,329. The stock has a market cap of $906.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.83 and a beta of 0.77. Heartland Express has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The business's 50-day moving average is $11.63 and its 200-day moving average is $11.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -27.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 5,210 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.49 per share, with a total value of $59,862.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,265,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. This represents a 0.41 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918 in the last 90 days. 39.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.