Dean Capital Management Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jun 19th, 2026

Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD – Free Report) by 73.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,909 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,167 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $1,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HTLD. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 237.4% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 103,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 72,739 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 285.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 78,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $713,000 after purchasing an additional 58,428 shares during the period. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Heartland Express during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,619,000. Gate City Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Heartland Express by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Gate City Capital Management LLC now owns 2,192,807 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,801,000 after purchasing an additional 167,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in Heartland Express by 90.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 529,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,782,000 after purchasing an additional 251,670 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HTLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Heartland Express in a research report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $12.00 target price on Heartland Express in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Heartland Express presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.20.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Heartland Express

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Heartland Express news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $444,824.29. This represents a 52.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 41.60% of the company’s stock.

Heartland Express Stock Performance

Shares of HTLD stock opened at $14.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.99 and a 52 week high of $16.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.77 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.07. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 5.69% and a negative return on equity of 3.70%. The company had revenue of $153.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $177.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.04 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 Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Heartland Express Profile

(Free Report)

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.