Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Short Interest Up 20.4% in February

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 971,500 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 807,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 416,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at about $100,000. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.84. 849,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,211. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71 and a beta of 0.84. Marten Transport has a 52 week low of $13.52 and a 52 week high of $19.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $15.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.15.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 2.79%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stephens boosted their price objective on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.