Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Trading Down 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) traded down 3.6% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $15.76 and last traded at $16.09. 104,238 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 405,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.69.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MRTN. StockNews.com lowered Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James cut shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.16 and its 200-day moving average is $17.46.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 4.17%. The firm had revenue of $246.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total transaction of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,596.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the second quarter worth about $412,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 6.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 1,997 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,334,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 54.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,991 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 17,662 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.