Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Position Lessened by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,210 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,316 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.05% of Marten Transport worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,988,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,997,000. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,058,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Marten Transport by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $91,023,000 after acquiring an additional 132,407 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Marten Transport by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,775,000 after acquiring an additional 41,505 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,596.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of MRTN stock opened at $17.27 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $15.33 and a 1 year high of $21.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.32 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.55 and its 200-day moving average is $17.67.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.11 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on MRTN shares. Vertical Research cut Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marten Transport currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.