American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 8.8% in Q1, holding approximately 2.41% of the company, valued at $26.9 million.
• Analysts have upgraded Marten Transport from a "sell" to a "hold" rating, with an average target price of $19.00 and a current rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Marten Transport declared a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, with a payout ratio of 92.31% and an annualized dividend yield of 1.9%.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,961,073 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 158,028 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.41% of Marten Transport worth $26,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 5,237,442 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $71,858,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,631 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 1st quarter worth $8,133,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 644.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 224,664 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $3,507,000 after purchasing an additional 194,481 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 432,775 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,756,000 after purchasing an additional 169,057 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 300,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,116,000 after purchasing an additional 150,000 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Marten Transport from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $19.00.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.5%

Marten Transport stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.92. The stock had a trading volume of 151,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 510,774. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12 month low of $11.57 and a 12 month high of $18.63. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $12.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $971.72 million, a PE ratio of 45.81 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

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

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.