Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Upgraded at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $13.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $12.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.59 and a beta of 0.82. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $9.35 and a 12 month high of $15.42.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $210.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.22 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 2.27%. Marten Transport’s quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Marten Transport by 12.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,028 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 61,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 9,654 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 4.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,496 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the first quarter worth approximately $158,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Marten Transport by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 159,291 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,069,000 after buying an additional 4,537 shares during the period. 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.