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

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 310,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Heartland Express Price Performance

HTLD opened at $12.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current 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 $14.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.91. The stock has a market cap of $962.41 million, a P/E ratio of -42.28 and a beta of 0.71.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Heartland Express will post -0.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. The trade was a 5.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 154,244 shares of company stock valued at $1,764,464. 39.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 74.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 9,884 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $587,000 after buying an additional 3,195 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 136,195 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after buying an additional 62,172 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $348,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter worth about $376,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.