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

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, a drop of 11.7% from the September 15th total of 1,450,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 327,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Heartland Express from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.00.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 50,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.67 per share, for a total transaction of $583,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,196,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Heartland Express by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,780 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Trading Down 0.9 %

HTLD traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $11.53. 217,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,025. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock's 50-day moving average is $12.03 and its 200 day moving average is $11.73. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $15.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $911.46 million, a PE ratio of -67.82 and a beta of 0.69.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.84% and a negative net margin of 2.17%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.10 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were given 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 was Friday, September 27th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -47.06%.

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.