Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Down 2.9% – Time to Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) dropped 2.9% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $16.01 and last traded at $16.02. Approximately 33,892 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 432,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Marten Transport Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.49 and a 200-day moving average of $16.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 38.21 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.81 per share, with a total value of $158,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. The trade was a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Marten Transport by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,831,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,585,000 after purchasing an additional 14,660 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in Marten Transport by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,231,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,199,000 after purchasing an additional 15,388 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its position in Marten Transport by 13.0% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,500,000 after purchasing an additional 303,132 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Marten Transport by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,339,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,412,000 after purchasing an additional 14,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Marten Transport by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $24,977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

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.