Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Rating) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 16th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.02 per share by the transportation company on Friday, October 7th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 26th.

Heartland Express has increased its dividend by an average of 93.5% per year over the last three years. Heartland Express has a dividend payout ratio of 7.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Heartland Express to earn $1.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.7%.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $14.21 on Friday. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $12.78 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $15.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael John Sullivan acquired 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.28 per share, with a total value of $28,560.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 14,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,800.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 39.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Heartland Express

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTLD. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 55.0% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 437,415 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,084,000 after acquiring an additional 155,263 shares during the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,994,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 118.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 258,327 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,635,000 after buying an additional 140,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,242,869 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $31,601,000 after buying an additional 131,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 31.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 536,385 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $7,461,000 after buying an additional 127,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.31% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Heartland Express from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Heartland Express from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.83.

Heartland Express Company Profile

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Heartland Express, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a short-to-medium haul truckload carrier in the United States and Canada. It primarily provides nationwide asset-based dry van truckload service for shippers from Washington to Florida and New England to California; and temperature-controlled truckload services.

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