Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,750,545 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 70,810 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 7.06% of Marten Transport worth $89,766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 182,957 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,856,000 after purchasing an additional 26,096 shares during the period. Defined Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth $173,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 91,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,435,000 after purchasing an additional 28,586 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 141,327 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 4,829 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN stock opened at $12.92 on Tuesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a one year low of $12.52 and a one year high of $19.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 38.00 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.73 and a 200-day moving average of $15.34.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The firm had revenue of $223.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $228.79 million. 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, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

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.