First Eagle Investment Management LLC Increases Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 730,368 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,493 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.93% of Heartland Express worth $8,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 67.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 21,539 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Heartland Express by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 256,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,146,000 after buying an additional 12,998 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $124,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 22,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Heartland Express in the third quarter valued at about $353,000. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Heartland Express Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Heartland Express stock opened at $9.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $741.51 million, a P/E ratio of -25.51 and a beta of 0.80. Heartland Express, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.11 and a fifty-two week high of $13.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.52.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 3.57% and a negative net margin of 2.84%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 25th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Heartland Express’s 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.