29,900 Shares in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN Bought by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 29,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 5,237,442 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,858,000 after buying an additional 2,040,631 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,210,598 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,769,000 after buying an additional 14,680 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,135,484 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $56,739,000 after buying an additional 63,916 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,155,503 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,294,000 after buying an additional 15,223 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,961,073 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,906,000 after buying an additional 158,028 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN opened at $11.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $959.49 million, a P/E ratio of 45.27 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.79 and a 200-day moving average of $13.41. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $11.57 and a 1-year high of $18.63.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 2.72%. The business had revenue of $229.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marten Transport presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

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.