Heartland Express, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.02 (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 17th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 0.02 per share by the transportation company on Friday, April 7th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 27th.

Heartland Express has a dividend payout ratio of 6.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Heartland Express to earn $1.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.3%.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $15.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $12.78 and a twelve month high of $18.17.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 3rd. The transportation company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.10). Heartland Express had a net margin of 13.80% and a return on equity of 16.41%. The business had revenue of $354.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 138.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Heartland Express

In other news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 2,152 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.99 per share, with a total value of $34,410.48. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 2,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,410.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 2,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.99 per share, with a total value of $34,410.48. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 2,152 shares in the company, valued at $34,410.48. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 8,421 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.99 per share, with a total value of $134,651.79. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 18,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,244.23. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 53,602 shares of company stock worth $848,060. Insiders own 39.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its stake in Heartland Express by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 287.4% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 26.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 577.1% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 10,157 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 8,657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Heartland Express in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Heartland Express from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Heartland Express from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.17.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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Heartland Express, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of short-to-medium haul truckload carrier services. It offers long haul truckload and regional truckload transportation. The company was founded by Russell A. Gerdin in 1978 and is headquartered in North Liberty, IA.