Heartland Advisors Inc. Takes $6.07 Million Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors bought 350,000 shares of Marten Transport worth approximately $6.07 million, giving it a 0.43% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 69.12% of the company.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $16, though Stephens lowered its target to $16 and maintained an “equal weight” rating.
• Marten Transport missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.07 EPS and $223.54 million in revenue, while revenue declined 2.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, representing a 1.6% yield.

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 350,000 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $6,072,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Marten Transport at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 121,536 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 76,690 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,496 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised 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 raised 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 own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens decreased their price target on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marten Transport has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.00.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN stock opened at $14.93 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $9.35 and a 1-year high of $18.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.82 and a beta of 0.95.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.65% and a net margin of 1.47%.The business had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.10 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 141.18%.

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.

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