Short Interest in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Grows By 17.6%

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 801,400 shares, a growth of 17.6% from the August 15th total of 681,300 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 397,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In related news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,596.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Marten Transport during the 1st quarter valued at $2,988,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $9,997,000. SG Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the 1st quarter worth about $2,058,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,673 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Vertical Research cut shares of Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.00.

Marten Transport Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:MRTN traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $17.49. The company had a trading volume of 203,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,954. Marten Transport has a twelve month low of $15.33 and a twelve month high of $21.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.69.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released 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 company had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.11 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Marten Transport’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marten Transport will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.80%.

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.