Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 123,399 shares during the quarter. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HTLD. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $134,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Heartland Express Trading Up 1.2 %
Heartland Express stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,102,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,488. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $8.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.52. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.11 and a twelve month high of $13.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $664.36 million, a PE ratio of -22.86 and a beta of 1.04.
Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $219.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.37 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.
Heartland Express Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express's payout ratio is currently -22.22%.
Insider Activity
In related news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 148,272 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $7.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,141,694.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,046,856 shares in the company, valued at $8,060,791.20. This represents a 16.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 40.70% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays cut 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.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Heartland Express
About Heartland Express
(
Free Report)
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.
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