Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 7,081 Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,081 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,694,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Heartland Express by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 696,823 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,818,000 after acquiring an additional 157,892 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Heartland Express by 126.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 288,375 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,236,000 after acquiring an additional 161,222 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $9.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $730.52 million, a PE ratio of -25.13 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.26. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.10 and a 1-year high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The transportation company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

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