Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Expands By 44.9%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,970,000 shares, an increase of 44.9% from the May 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 604,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity at Heartland Express

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 148,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $7.85 per share, for a total transaction of $1,163,935.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,461,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,475,663.80. This represents a 11.29% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James G. Pratt acquired 6,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.96 per share, with a total value of $58,876.16. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $268,800. This represents a 28.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 619,031 shares of company stock worth $5,125,232. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 26,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 926 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 66,459 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 173.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Heartland Express by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,579 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD stock traded up $0.26 on Monday, hitting $8.96. 413,978 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 442,135. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.52 and a 200 day moving average of $9.99. The stock has a market cap of $703.84 million, a P/E ratio of -24.22 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $7.11 and a 12 month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is currently -22.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

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.