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

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

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders acquired a total of 154,244 shares of company stock worth $1,764,464 in the last three months. Insiders own 39.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,634,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,584,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,702,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after acquiring an additional 171,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 175.5% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 66,311 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $12.26 on Wednesday. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $14.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.78 and its 200-day moving average is $11.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $962.41 million, a PE ratio of -42.28 and a beta of 0.71. 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 (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced 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 return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 2.11%. The business had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

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.