Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Dividend Announcement

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday after the company announced a dividend. 545,512 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the previous session’s volume of 384,530 shares.The stock last traded at $9.32 and had previously closed at $9.20.

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

Heartland Express Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $737.19 million, a P/E ratio of -25.36 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.52.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Research analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Heartland Express

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 326.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,848 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 64,185 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth approximately $288,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 159.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 78,237 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 175.5% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 66,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,885,000 after acquiring an additional 90,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

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.