AXQ Capital LP Takes $176,000 Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 15,726 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Heartland Express by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 898,289 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,079,000 after purchasing an additional 45,732 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 730,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,195,000 after purchasing an additional 63,493 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,634,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 346,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,885,000 after buying an additional 90,100 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Heartland Express by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 210,266 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after buying an additional 5,946 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.45% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD opened at $9.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $749.37 million, a P/E ratio of -25.78 and a beta of 0.80. Heartland Express, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.11 and a twelve month high of $13.67. 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 moving average price is $10.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.37.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 25th. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -21.62%.

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.