Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.83 Million Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 272,832 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,607 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $4,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,877,000 after buying an additional 1,018,673 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the second quarter worth $5,334,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Marten Transport by 13.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,881,000 after acquiring an additional 162,924 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,124,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 140.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after purchasing an additional 79,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marten Transport

In other Marten Transport news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,379.64. This represents a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Marten Transport Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MRTN opened at $15.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69 and a beta of 0.82. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $15.33 and a 12-month high of $20.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.13.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.00 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.14%.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.