Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) Shares Bought by Jane Street Group LLC

Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 175.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 66,311 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned about 0.13% of Heartland Express worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in Heartland Express by 85.7% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter worth $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Heartland Express by 11.8% in the second quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 16,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin bought 63,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. The trade was a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust bought 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This trade represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918 over the last three months. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ HTLD opened at $11.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $873.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.38 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.01. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.63 and a 52 week high of $14.54.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.11). Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The business had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is -27.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.75.

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.