Dean Investment Associates LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 60.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,026 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 201,774 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Heartland Express worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,079,000 after buying an additional 45,732 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 63,493 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Heartland Express by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 157,892 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 93.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Keeley Teton Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 100.8% during the fourth quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 365,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,100,000 after purchasing an additional 183,450 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays reduced their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $8.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $7.98 and a 12-month high of $13.67. The company has a market capitalization of $650.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.38 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.95.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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

Heartland Express Profile

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.