Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Decreases By 20.2%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 20.2% in March to 1,741,727 shares (about 3.8% of outstanding stock), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.8 days based on average daily volume.
• Institutional investors have been adding to positions—Dimensional Fund Advisors owns ~3.86M shares and Gate City ~2.19M—and institutions now hold 53.45% of the company’s stock.
• Financial and analyst snapshot: market cap ~$792M, negative P/E and revenue down 26.1% year‑over‑year; consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $10.20, and the company pays a $0.02 quarterly dividend (0.8% yield).

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,741,727 shares, a decline of 20.2% from the February 26th total of 2,183,093 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 459,564 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,857,387 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,325,000 after purchasing an additional 17,962 shares during the last quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 2,192,807 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 167,962 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Heartland Express by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,961,907 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $17,755,000 after purchasing an additional 35,355 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Heartland Express by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,408,307 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,168,000 after purchasing an additional 166,717 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Heartland Express by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,241,432 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $10,727,000 after buying an additional 128,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Heartland Express stock opened at $10.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $791.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.03 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.32. Heartland Express has a 12 month low of $6.99 and a 12 month high of $12.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Heartland Express had a negative return on equity of 4.79% and a negative net margin of 6.51%.The firm had revenue of $157.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio is currently -11.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Heartland Express and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $10.20.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc NASDAQ: HTLD is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.

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