Rhumbline Advisers Buys 3,003 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 214,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.26% of Marten Transport worth $3,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,500,000 after purchasing an additional 303,132 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 158.0% during the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,732,000 after buying an additional 185,700 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,130,000 after buying an additional 126,150 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 140.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 138,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 75,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MRTN opened at $14.72 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $14.37 and a 52-week high of $19.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.43. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.29 and a beta of 0.83.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 70.59%.

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.