Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 118.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,209 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,856 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2,083.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,555 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,438 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 660.8% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Marten Transport in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 3,553.8% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Marten Transport by 378.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,610 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Stephens raised Marten Transport to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of MRTN opened at $17.43 on Wednesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $9.35 and a fifty-two week high of $18.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.74 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.47.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $203.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.20 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 1.89%. Marten Transport’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is presently 126.32%.

About Marten Transport

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.