Short Interest in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Rises By 26.5%

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 784,300 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the October 15th total of 620,200 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 295,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRTN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James cut Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Marten Transport Price Performance

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $17.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 41.07 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.39. Marten Transport has a one year low of $15.33 and a one year high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.00 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Marten Transport will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In related news, Director Jerry M. Bauer bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.81 per share, with a total value of $158,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Marten Transport by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter worth $181,000. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.