Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) was downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Marten Shipping (NASDAQ:MRTN – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Vertical Research downgraded Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday. July 9. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00, according to MarketBeat.

Check out the latest stock analysis from Marten Transport

Marten carrying stock down 2.0%

NASDAQ MRTN traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.91. The stock had a trading volume of 319,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 413,920. Marten Transport has a 52-week low of $15.33 and a 52-week high of $21.38. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.60.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN – Get Your Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.74%. The firm had revenue of $246.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. In the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% year over year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Internal transactions at Marten Transport

In other news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total transaction of $82,530.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares in the company, valued at $136,596.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s shares.

Institutional Commercialization of Jderul Transport

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 50,526 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 2.0% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,282 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 222,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the second quarter valued at $28,000. 69.12% of the shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Jder Transport

(Get a free report)

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature sensitive truck carrier for shippers in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other packaged consumer goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry goods; and regional short-haul, medium-haul and long-haul full-haul services.

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