Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Short Interest Update

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,425,721 shares, a decline of 29.9% from the February 26th total of 2,032,909 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 624,613 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.Get Marten Transport alerts:Marten Transport Price PerformanceNASDAQ MRTN traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $12.89. 461,376 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 748,584. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 58.59 and a beta of 0.84. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $9.35 and a 12 month high of $15.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.62. Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.02. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $210.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.41 EPS for the current year. Marten Transport Dividend AnnouncementThe firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Marten Transport's payout ratio is currently 109.09%. Institutional Inflows and OutflowsA number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 77,209 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 41,856 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 489,394 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,569,000 after acquiring an additional 72,262 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Marten Transport by 84.8% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 24,650 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 11,311 shares during the last quarter. VARCOV Co. bought a new position in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,000. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP increased its stake in Marten Transport by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 16,534 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,206 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Analysts Set New Price TargetsSeveral analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marten Transport from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Marten Transport from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marten Transport has a consensus rating of "Reduce".Get Our Latest Report on Marten TransportAbout Marten Transport (Get Free Report)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.See AlsoFive stocks we like better than Marten TransportThis instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.Should You Invest $1,000 in Marten Transport Right Now?Before you consider Marten Transport, you'll want to hear this.MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Marten Transport wasn't on the list.While Marten Transport currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.View The Five Stocks Here