Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Dividend Announcement

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. Approximately 545,512 shares changed hands during mid-day 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.52. The stock has a market cap of $737.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.36 and a beta of 0.80.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Heartland Express

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express during the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $124,000. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.