Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 12,792 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.37% of Marten Transport worth $5,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,907,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,997,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Marten Transport by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,506,000 after buying an additional 451,340 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Marten Transport by 56.5% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 1,038,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,462,000 after buying an additional 374,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,988,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Douglas Paul Petit sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.22, for a total value of $81,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,752. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Marten Transport in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Marten Transport Price Performance

NASDAQ MRTN traded down $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.95. 50,195 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 437,768. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.55. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12-month low of $15.33 and a 12-month high of $23.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.59 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.12. The firm had revenue of $249.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.77 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.80%.

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.