Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 36.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 86,457 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 49,928 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned 0.11% of Marten Transport worth $984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 7.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 76,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,496 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 48,628 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,028 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MRTN opened at $12.18 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $9.35 and a 52-week high of $15.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.58. The stock has a market cap of $993.77 million, a PE ratio of 55.37 and a beta of 0.84.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $210.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.22 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Marten Transport Company Profile

Marten Transport, Inc is a North American transportation services provider offering temperature-controlled and dry van truckload services. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin, the company specializes in full truckload, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and port drayage solutions. Its core focus on refrigerated and produce freight has made it a key partner for food manufacturers, retailers and other shippers requiring strict temperature management.

The company maintains a modern fleet of tractors and trailers equipped with advanced telematics, electronic logging devices and continuous temperature monitoring.