Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 641,833 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,525 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.79% of Marten Transport worth $10,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Marten Transport in the third quarter worth approximately $181,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth $216,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN traded up $0.25 on Monday, hitting $13.88. The company had a trading volume of 479,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.82 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.20. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $13.52 and a 12-month high of $19.26.

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Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. Analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Company 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.