Brandes Investment Partners LP Increases Stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,390 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,399 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at $124,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at $148,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 17,310 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Trading Up 2.6 %

Heartland Express stock opened at $9.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $741.51 million, a PE ratio of -25.51 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.49. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.11 and a 12 month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is currently -21.62%.

Heartland Express Company 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.