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

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 26th will be given a dividend of 0.02 per share by the transportation company on Friday, April 5th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 25th.

Heartland Express has a payout ratio of 11.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Heartland Express to earn $0.79 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 10.1%.

Heartland Express Stock Down 1.4 %

Heartland Express stock opened at $11.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $920.14 million, a P/E ratio of 64.67 and a beta of 0.63. Heartland Express has a 1-year low of $11.44 and a 1-year high of $17.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.16. Heartland Express had a net margin of 1.22% and a return on equity of 1.71%. The company had revenue of $275.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $293.36 million. Research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 2,889 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 287.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,737 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,495 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HTLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Heartland Express from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.25.

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.