Sei Investments Co. Boosts Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 79.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 220,314 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,270 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $2,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 47.1% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,889,000 after buying an additional 221,851 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,186,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 487,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,549,000 after acquiring an additional 88,891 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Marten Transport by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,893,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,250,000 after acquiring an additional 37,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Marten Transport by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,267,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,322,000 after acquiring an additional 144,925 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MRTN. 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 report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Marten Transport Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MRTN stock opened at $14.95 on Friday. 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 $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.94 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.94.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.65% and a net margin of 1.47%.The business had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.