Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $15.47 and last traded at $15.48, with a volume of 175198 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRTN. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Stephens downgraded Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Trading Up 2.9%

The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.27.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 1.68%.The business had revenue of $203.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is 126.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in Marten Transport by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,267,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,322,000 after acquiring an additional 144,925 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Marten Transport by 0.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,893,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,250,000 after acquiring an additional 37,761 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Marten Transport by 0.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,241,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,217,000 after acquiring an additional 32,843 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Marten Transport by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,442,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,793,000 after acquiring an additional 16,547 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Marten Transport by 6.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,220,666 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,672,000 after acquiring an additional 133,262 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.