JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 78,237 Shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Heartland Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:HTLD) by 159.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 127,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,237 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Heartland Express were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Heartland Express by 7.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 26,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 85.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 14.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 37,199 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 4,771 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Heartland Express by 33.3% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 19,245 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,244,000 after buying an additional 5,804 shares in the last quarter. 53.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HTLD. Barclays lifted their target price on Heartland Express from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Heartland Express from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two equities 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 company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Gerdin acquired 63,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,259,792 shares in the company, valued at $13,794,722.40. This trade represents a 5.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Ann S. Gerdin Revocable Trust acquired 49,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.24 per share, with a total value of $605,953.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 898,584 shares in the company, valued at $10,998,668.16. This represents a 5.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, 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 NASDAQ:HTLD opened at $11.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.68 and a 200-day moving average of $11.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $935.72 million, a PE ratio of -41.10 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. Heartland Express, Inc. has a 12 month low of $9.63 and a 12 month high of $13.67.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $259.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.35 million. Heartland Express had a negative net margin of 2.11% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. Heartland Express’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Heartland Express, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Heartland Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.02 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Heartland Express’s payout ratio is presently -27.59%.

Heartland Express Company 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.