Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,617 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 963 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRTN. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter worth $12,907,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 56.5% during the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,462,000 after purchasing an additional 374,755 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Marten Transport by 26.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 452,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,920,000 after purchasing an additional 93,417 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 893,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,613,000 after acquiring an additional 91,508 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens dropped their target price on Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Vertical Research raised shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN opened at $16.82 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.86. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $15.33 and a 1-year high of $23.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69 and a beta of 0.79.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12. Marten Transport had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $249.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.77 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

Marten Transport 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.