London Co. of Virginia Acquires 48,697 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

London Co. of Virginia increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 889,273 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,697 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 1.09% of Marten Transport worth $11,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRTN. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2,083.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,555 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,438 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 660.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 3,553.8% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 1st quarter valued at $68,000. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MRTN. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Marten Transport Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of MRTN opened at $16.30 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.27 and its 200 day moving average is $14.77. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.35 and a 12-month high of $18.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.88 and a beta of 0.93.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 1.65%. The business had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $227.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.27 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 126.32%.

Marten Transport Company Profile

Marten Transport, Inc is a North American transportation services provider offering temperature-controlled and dry van truckload services. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin, the company specializes in full truckload, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and port drayage solutions. Its core focus on refrigerated and produce freight has made it a key partner for food manufacturers, retailers and other shippers requiring strict temperature management.

The company maintains a modern fleet of tractors and trailers equipped with advanced telematics, electronic logging devices and continuous temperature monitoring.