Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $19.00.

Marten Transport Trading Up 0.6%

MRTN opened at $12.95 on Tuesday. Marten Transport has a 1-year low of $9.35 and a 1-year high of $16.95. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.96 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.45.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $194.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.38 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 2.52% and a net margin of 2.14%.Marten Transport’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 660.8% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in Marten Transport during the third quarter worth about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

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.