Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 123,399 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 123,399 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 4.47% of Heartland Express worth $39,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HTLD. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLD traded up $0.80 on Thursday, hitting $8.36. 1,231,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 415,887. The company has a market capitalization of $656.12 million, a PE ratio of -22.58 and a beta of 1.04. The business's fifty day moving average is $8.81 and its 200 day moving average is $10.57. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.11 and a 52 week high of $13.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. The business had revenue of $219.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 148,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $7.85 per share, with a total value of $1,163,935.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,461,868 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,475,663.80. This trade represents a 11.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HTLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Profile

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.