Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $11.49 and traded as high as $12.74. Marten Transport shares last traded at $12.42, with a volume of 786,413 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Marten Transport Trading Down 1.4%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 51.75 and a beta of 0.87.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $194.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $230.38 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 2.52% and a net margin of 2.14%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Marten Transport in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Marten Transport during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Marten Transport during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 410.4% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,634 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.