Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.02

Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 24th will be given a dividend of 0.02 per share by the transportation company on Friday, April 3rd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 24th.

Heartland Express has a dividend payout ratio of 22.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Heartland Express to earn $0.77 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 10.4%.

Heartland Express Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:HTLD traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.53. The stock had a trading volume of 436,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 580,734. Heartland Express has a twelve month low of $6.99 and a twelve month high of $12.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $738.19 million, a PE ratio of -14.01 and a beta of 1.13.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.01. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 6.51% and a negative return on equity of 4.79%. The company had revenue of $157.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Heartland Express will post 0.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HTLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Heartland Express from $8.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $9.00 price target on Heartland Express in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Heartland Express has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $10.20.

Heartland Express Company Profile

Heartland Express, Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) is a publicly traded truckload carrier headquartered in North Liberty, Iowa. The company specializes in full truckload transportation, offering dry-van services that connect shippers with customers across the continental United States. Its primary focus is on over-the-road freight movements, serving industries such as manufacturing, retail, and consumer goods.

Founded in 1978 as Heartland Motor Freight, the company has grown from a regional carrier into one of the larger U.S.