Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Trading Down 4.1% – Time to Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) shares traded down 4.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $15.73 and last traded at $15.63. 63,776 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 417,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRTN has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stephens upped their target price on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Marten Transport Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.13 and a beta of 0.83.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. Sell-side analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Marten Transport by 11.3% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 125,443 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 12,696 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the second quarter worth $751,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 54.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,991 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $922,000 after acquiring an additional 17,662 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter worth $412,000. 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.