Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Short Interest Update

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 295,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Marten Transport Price Performance

Shares of MRTN opened at $16.88 on Friday. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $21.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 40.19 and a beta of 0.79.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. The company had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.00 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 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, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 88.8% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 24.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.