Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Hits New 1-Year Low - Should You Sell?

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $7.98 and last traded at $8.07, with a volume of 80007 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $647.87 million, a P/E ratio of -22.30 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.89.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.84% and a negative return on equity of 3.57%. Equities analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is -21.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,506,139 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,338,000 after purchasing an additional 123,399 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 45,732 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $8,195,000 after acquiring an additional 63,493 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $7,818,000 after buying an additional 157,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Heartland Express by 93.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 285,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

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.