Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Short Interest Update

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 784,300 shares, a growth 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 daily volume of 295,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRTN shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In related news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,831,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,585,000 after acquiring an additional 14,660 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,231,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,199,000 after purchasing an additional 15,388 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,500,000 after purchasing an additional 303,132 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,339,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,412,000 after buying an additional 14,088 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,977,000 after buying an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Price Performance

Shares of Marten Transport stock opened at $16.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.19 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.87 and a 200 day moving average of $17.40. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted 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 business had revenue of $237.37 million during 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 research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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.