Short Interest in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Decreases By 16.3%

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 854,200 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 1,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 443,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $6,634,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Heartland Express by 93.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 591,755 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 285,838 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Heartland Express in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,694,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Heartland Express by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 560,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,287,000 after purchasing an additional 200,100 shares during the period. Finally, Gate City Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 590,893 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after buying an additional 185,718 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

HTLD traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.43. The company had a trading volume of 100,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,106. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.47. 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 has a 1 year low of $9.11 and a 1 year high of $13.67. The company has a market cap of $740.33 million, a P/E ratio of -25.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 25th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -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.