Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 88,891 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 22.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,891 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Marten Transport were worth $5,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Marten Transport by 59.2% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 21,102 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 7,850 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 3,553.8% during 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. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its position in Marten Transport by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,889,000 after acquiring an additional 221,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Marten Transport by 164.3% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRTN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Marten Transport from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stephens lowered Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN stock opened at $14.80 on Monday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $9.35 and a 12-month high of $15.42. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.90 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $13.33 and its 200 day moving average is $12.06.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $203.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.20 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 1.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 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.