Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Gap Down to $16.76

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $16.76, but opened at $16.39. Marten Transport shares last traded at $16.49, with a volume of 37,723 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Vertical Research raised shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Marten Transport Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.58 and a 200 day moving average of $19.05.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The transportation company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $268.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $271.62 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 55,106 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 6,494 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 5.2% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Marten Transport by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 51,540 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $915,000 after buying an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,991,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $106,413,000 after buying an additional 40,954 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is 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.