The Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust, a major owner of Heartland Express (HTLD), recently added 32,914 shares. The buy increased the trust’s holdings by less than 1 percent, and came to a total cost of $434,871.
The buy came a week after the company CEO bought 95,602 shares, paying $1.25 million. Company insiders have been regular and steady buyers of shares over the past two years, with no insider sales.
Overall, Heartland insiders own 44 percent of shares.
The trucking company is down about 20 percent over the past year. Revenues are up about 8 percent, but higher fuel costs have weighed on earnings, which have been pushed up to about 40 times earnings.
Despite the short-term challenges and fears of a slowing economy, Heartland has a low level of debt on its balance sheet and stands to fare well should energy costs decline and the economic cycle improves.
Action to take: Investors may like shares here, as they’re coming off of 52-week lows set in October. At current prices, Heartland also pays a 0.6 percent dividend.
For traders, shares are in an uptrend, and are still well under most of their trading range from the past year.
The March 2024 $12.50 calls, last going for about $1.50, could see mid-to-high double-digit gains from here. The option is already about $0.80 in-the-money.
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 of the companies mentioned in this article.