Michael Gerdin, CEO and a major holder at Heartland Express (HTLD), recently bought over 116,000 shares across three transactions. The total buys increased his stake by less than 1%, and came to a total cost of over $1.33 million.
Gerdin has been a buyer of shares back in April and May, and going back to 2023. Another company director has been a buyer this year, as has another major holder of shares.
Overall, Heartland insiders own 35.2% of shares.
The trucking company has declined 7% over the past year, far underperforming the overall stock market.
Earnings have been negative over the past year amid a decline in demand for trucking services. Revenues also declined 12%.
Even with the drop in share prices, the decline in earnings has resulted in a valuation of 123 times forward earnings.
Heartland shares could be considered a potential value play here, as the stock now trades at 0.9 times its price-to-sales ratio.
Action to take: While shares are down over the past year, Heartland has been generally trending higher since May. Increased deregulation and consumer optimism could keep that trend moving higher. That makes Heartland a buy for contrarian investors.
For traders, the March 2025 $12.50 calls, an at-the-money trade, last traded for about $0.90. If the stock keeps trending higher over the next few months, investors could see mid-double-digit returns.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any company mentioned in this article.