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

Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 175.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & 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 0.13% of Heartland Express worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,340 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter valued at $124,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Heartland Express in the 2nd quarter worth about $166,000. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Heartland Express by 11.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other Heartland Express news, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust purchased 49,506 shares of Heartland Express stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 898,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.95 per share, for a total transaction of $690,660.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,794,722.40. The trade was a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 153,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,786,918. Corporate insiders own 39.60% of the company's stock.

Heartland Express Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.13. The company had a trading volume of 213,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,882. Heartland Express, Inc. has a one year low of $9.63 and a one year high of $14.54. The company's fifty day moving average price is $11.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.01. The company has a market capitalization of $873.67 million, a PE ratio of -38.38 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $259.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $268.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.14) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -27.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.