Marten Transport, Ltd. $MRTN Shares Sold by Nuance Investments LLC

Nuance Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 88.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 546,871 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 4,263,549 shares during the quarter. Marten Transport makes up approximately 1.6% of Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Nuance Investments LLC’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $9,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 3,553.8% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the first quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted 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 worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 4,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MRTN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Stephens reduced their price target on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

Marten Transport Price Performance

MRTN opened at $15.27 on Tuesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12 month low of $9.35 and a 12 month high of $18.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.82 and a beta of 0.95.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.65% and a net margin of 1.47%.The company had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

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.