Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Drops By 5.7%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the October 15th total of 1,230,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 310,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Heartland Express Trading Down 1.8 %

HTLD opened at $12.20 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $957.70 million, a PE ratio of -42.07 and a beta of 0.71. Heartland Express has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.89.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.14) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Heartland Express will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.95 per share, with a total value of $690,660.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. The trade was a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 154,244 shares of company stock worth $1,764,464. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 64.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,565 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the second 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 boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 7.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 6.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 1,965 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 266.3% in the second 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. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. StockNews.com raised Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

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.