Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Price Target Cut to $16.00 by Analysts at Stephens

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) had its price target lowered by Stephens from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on MRTN. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.00.

Marten Transport Stock Down 3.4%

Marten Transport stock opened at $16.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.88 and a beta of 0.93. Marten Transport has a 52 week low of $9.35 and a 52 week high of $18.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $223.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $227.10 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 1.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.09 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,267,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,322,000 after purchasing an additional 144,925 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Marten Transport by 0.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $45,217,000 after purchasing an additional 32,843 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $27,793,000 after buying an additional 16,547 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,232,442 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,025,000 after acquiring an additional 119,001 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.