Dean Capital Management Acquires 107,174 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. $HTLD

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Jul 27th, 2026

Dean Capital Management raised its holdings in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD – Free Report) by 78.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 244,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 107,174 shares during the quarter. Dean Capital Management’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $2,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HTLD. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 27,708 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Heartland Express during the first quarter worth $133,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Heartland Express during the first quarter worth $907,000. Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new stake in Heartland Express in the second quarter worth $462,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 126,736 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HTLD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Heartland Express from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Heartland Express from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Heartland Express from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Heartland Express from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.80.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Heartland Express

Heartland Express Stock Performance

NASDAQ HTLD opened at $14.28 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.46. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.99 and a 12-month high of $16.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.50 and a beta of 1.31.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The transportation company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $153.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Heartland Express’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Paul Millis sold 31,402 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.67, for a total transaction of $492,069.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $444,824.29. The trade was a 52.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 41.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Company 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.