Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Declines By 9.5%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, a decrease of 9.5% from the May 31st total of 1,470,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 412,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Heartland Express stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.06. 215,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 363,535. Heartland Express has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $17.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.11.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.07). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 1.13% and a negative return on equity of 1.50%. The company had revenue of $270.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post -0.13 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 88,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $10.44 per share, for a total transaction of $919,764.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 583,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,093,953.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 88,100 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.44 per share, with a total value of $919,764.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 583,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,093,953.28. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James G. Pratt acquired 9,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.96 per share, for a total transaction of $107,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,210.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 405,490 shares of company stock worth $4,237,451 in the last three months. 39.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 8.5% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 40,456 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 3,180 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 6.8% in 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. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the first quarter worth $62,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the first quarter worth $376,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the first quarter worth $348,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.