Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Trading Down 4.1% - Should You Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) dropped 4.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $15.73 and last traded at $15.63. Approximately 63,776 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 417,131 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRTN. Raymond James lowered Marten Transport from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday.

Marten Transport Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.87.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $12,130,000 after purchasing an additional 126,150 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 140.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 79,689 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 138,508 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 75,721 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Marten Transport by 4.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 940,431 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $16,646,000 after acquiring an additional 38,990 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $24,977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company's stock.

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.