Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Short Interest Down 14.4% in March

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a decrease of 14.4% from the March 15th total of 1,670,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 305,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.89. The stock had a trading volume of 384,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,021. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $10.47 and a twelve month high of $17.08. The stock has a market cap of $860.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.50 and a beta of 0.62. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $12.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.16. Heartland Express had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 1.71%. The business had revenue of $275.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.36 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Heartland Express will post -0.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 26th were given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Heartland Express from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 14,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.39 per share, for a total transaction of $185,019.87. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 159,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,980,727.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,199,731 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $74,148,000 after acquiring an additional 274,581 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,815 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 77,922 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,110,000 after buying an additional 50,044 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Weiss Multi Strategy Advisers LLC now owns 67,326 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 16,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 391,883 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,588,000 after buying an additional 9,390 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.