Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Releases Earnings Results

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02, Zacks reports. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD opened at $11.28 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.62 and its 200-day moving average is $11.90. The stock has a market cap of $885.09 million, a PE ratio of -39.03 and a beta of 0.77. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $9.63 and a twelve month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HTLD shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group cut 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 issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 5,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.49 per share, for a total transaction of $59,862.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,265,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,534,872.98. This represents a 0.41 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $12.24 per share, for a total transaction of $605,953.44. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 in the last three months. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.