Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in Marten Transport by 5.3%, owning 384,141 shares after selling 21,540 shares in the first quarter.
• Marten Transport's stock was downgraded from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, despite having a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share, reflecting a 2.0% annualized dividend yield and a dividend payout ratio of 92.31%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 384,141 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 21,540 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.47% of Marten Transport worth $5,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,049 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,548 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,447 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,291 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 378,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,214. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $12.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.30. The company has a market cap of $973.35 million, a P/E ratio of 45.92 and a beta of 0.98. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $11.57 and a 12-month high of $18.63.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. 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 (DPR) is currently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Marten Transport 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.