Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:MMLP) Short Interest Down 36.0% in March

Key Points

• Short interest down 36.0% — short interest fell to 54,833 shares as of March 31 (a 36% drop from March 15), representing about 0.2% of shares and a days-to-cover ratio of 2.6.
• Institutions have been buying; notable position increases from Jane Street, Susquehanna and Artisan helped lift institutional ownership to roughly 34.9% of the stock.
• Fundamentals look weak: MMLP traded at $2.59 with a $101M market cap, reported an earnings miss (EPS -$0.07 vs. $0.06 est.), has a consensus "Reduce" rating with a $3.00 average target, and yields about 0.8% annually.

Martin Midstream Partners L.P. (NASDAQ:MMLP - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 54,833 shares, a drop of 36.0% from the March 15th total of 85,713 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,280 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Martin Midstream Partners

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Martin Midstream Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Midstream Partners during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Martin Midstream Partners by 139.3% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 24,068 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 14,010 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its position in Martin Midstream Partners by 298.9% during the 3rd quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 44,126 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 33,064 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its position in Martin Midstream Partners by 221.2% during the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 107,339 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 73,926 shares during the period. 34.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Midstream Partners Price Performance

MMLP traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $2.59. 14,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,776. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.00 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.74. Martin Midstream Partners has a 12 month low of $2.21 and a 12 month high of $3.54.

Martin Midstream Partners (NASDAQ:MMLP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The pipeline company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $174.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $194.47 million. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Midstream Partners will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Midstream Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.005 per share. This represents a $0.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. Martin Midstream Partners's payout ratio is -5.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMLP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Martin Midstream Partners in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Martin Midstream Partners from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $3.00.

Martin Midstream Partners Company Profile

Martin Midstream Partners L.P. is a publicly traded midstream energy partnership that provides storage, transportation and distribution services for petroleum and chemical products. The company's operations encompass bulk liquid terminals, marine transportation services and handling facilities designed to support a variety of feedstocks and refined products. Through its network of terminals and pipelines, Martin Midstream serves refineries, petrochemical plants and other industrial customers, offering solutions that help optimize logistics and maintain supply chain reliability.

With core assets located along the U.S.

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