Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Marten Transport by 49.6%, now holding approximately 0.26% of the company's shares valued at $2.86 million.
• Marten Transport recently reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, matching analyst expectations, but showed a 6.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 2.0%, with a payout ratio of 92.31%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 49.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,260 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 204,720 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Marten Transport worth $2,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 44.6% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,428 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 2,291 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 8,296.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,595 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 6.0% during the first quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 13,648 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter valued at $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $11.84. 406,850 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 596,703. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $11.57 and a 1 year high of $18.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $965.20 million, a P/E ratio of 45.54 and a beta of 0.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.21.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.09. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 2.72%. The firm had revenue of $229.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $231.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.10 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Marten Transport from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marten Transport currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.