Tectonic Advisors LLC Acquires 21,634 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) by 75.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,167 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,634 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Marten Transport worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $46,500,000 after acquiring an additional 303,132 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 158.0% in the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,200 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $4,732,000 after buying an additional 185,700 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 worth $12,130,000 after purchasing an additional 126,150 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 140.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,416,000 after buying an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 120.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 138,508 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,452,000 after acquiring an additional 75,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Stephens raised their target price on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Stock Down 3.0 %

MRTN stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $14.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 260,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,784. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $14.78 and a 1 year high of $20.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.68 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $16.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.74.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Marten Transport's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.59%.

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.