Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 7,081 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HTLD. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter worth about $124,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 852,557 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,469,000 after purchasing an additional 22,448 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Heartland Express by 112.0% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 16,610 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,634,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Price Performance

HTLD stock opened at $9.30 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $10.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.26. The firm has a market cap of $730.52 million, a P/E ratio of -25.13 and a beta of 0.80. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.10 and a 1 year high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.