Short Interest in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Expands By 26.5%

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 784,300 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the October 15th total of 620,200 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 295,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Marten Transport Stock Down 2.4 %

MRTN opened at $17.25 on Friday. Marten Transport has a 52 week low of $15.33 and a 52 week high of $21.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 41.07 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.87 and a 200-day moving average of $17.39.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.00 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. Equities analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 50,526 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 0.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 222,269 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 24.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRTN shares. Raymond James cut Marten Transport from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

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.