Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Short Interest Up 16.9% in December

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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 daily volume of 363,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Heartland Express Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:HTLD traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $11.22. 263,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 335,078. The company has a market capitalization of $880.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.69 and a beta of 0.77. 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 has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $13.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.92.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target 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 price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of the firm’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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 5,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought 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. This represents a 0.41 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 over the last ninety days. 39.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,584,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 326.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 64,185 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 64,522 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 175.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 66,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $687,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.