Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Increases By 10.7%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,450,000 shares, an increase of 10.7% from the August 31st total of 1,310,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 359,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $12.28 on Tuesday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $15.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.73. The company has a market capitalization of $970.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.24 and a beta of 0.69.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $274.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.23 million. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 2.84% and a negative net margin of 2.17%. Heartland Express’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Heartland Express will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HTLD shares. UBS Group cut Heartland Express from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $10.00 target price (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 50,000 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.67 per share, with a total value of $583,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,196,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,965,699.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in Heartland Express by 33.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in Heartland Express during the second quarter valued at approximately $316,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $687,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.