Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Position 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. decreased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 5.3% in 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 SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,291 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 12,445 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MRTN opened at $11.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $957.04 million, a P/E ratio of 45.15 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $12.76 and a 200 day moving average of $13.39. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $11.57 and a twelve month high of $18.63.

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. The company had revenue of $229.92 million during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

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

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