Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $298,000 Investment in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,844 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 222,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in 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. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRTN. StockNews.com cut shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James lowered Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th.

Marten Transport Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $16.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.79 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.30. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a one year low of $15.33 and a one year high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.00 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Activity at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.81 per share, with a total value of $158,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,379.64. The trade was a 6.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.