Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $15.33 and last traded at $15.38, with a volume of 48839 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Marten Transport Trading Down 0.5 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.18. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 36.95 and a beta of 0.82.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.00 million. 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 156,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,473,379.64. The trade was a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,831,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $107,585,000 after purchasing an additional 14,660 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,231,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,199,000 after buying an additional 15,388 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 303,132 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,339,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,412,000 after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,977,000 after acquiring an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

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.