Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stake Boosted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,831,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 14,660 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 7.17% of Marten Transport worth $107,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $91,023,000 after buying an additional 132,407 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 78.0% in the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after buying an additional 1,018,673 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,506,000 after buying an additional 451,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 13.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,881,000 after buying an additional 162,924 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 780,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,381,000 after buying an additional 27,507 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Marten Transport

In related news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,448 shares in the company, valued at $136,596.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Marten Transport Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $17.33 on Tuesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $15.33 and a fifty-two week high of $21.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.74%. The company’s revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is 33.80%.

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.