JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD - Free Report) by 159.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,153 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 78,237 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.16% of Heartland Express worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Heartland Express by 6.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 100,921 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,244,000 after purchasing an additional 5,804 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Heartland Express by 82.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 142,774 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 64,522 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Heartland Express in the second quarter worth about $2,702,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Heartland Express by 243.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 241,755 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 171,319 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on HTLD shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.75.

Insider Transactions at Heartland Express

In other news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin purchased 5,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.49 per share, for a total transaction of $59,862.90. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,265,002 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,534,872.98. This represents a 0.41 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 owns 898,584 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,998,668.16. The trade was a 5.83 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 153,750 shares of company stock worth $1,786,918. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Heartland Express Price Performance

Shares of HTLD traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.56. 266,615 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 361,368. The company has a market cap of $907.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.86 and a beta of 0.77. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.90. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 1 year low of $9.63 and a 1 year high of $13.67.

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

Heartland Express Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.02 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -27.59%.

Heartland Express Profile

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.