The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 88.8% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the first quarter worth about $332,000. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 35.1% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 21,214 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 5,507 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marten Transport news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $136,596.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marten Transport Price Performance

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $16.73 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.49. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $15.33 and a 1 year high of $21.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued 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 business had revenue of $246.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 33.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Vertical Research cut Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

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.