Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Announces Earnings Results

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. The business had revenue of $249.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.77 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 5.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share.

Marten Transport Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Marten Transport stock opened at $16.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.38 and a 200 day moving average of $18.99. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $23.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.79.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on MRTN shares. Vertical Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 432.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 174,850 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after buying an additional 142,018 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 10.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,109,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $19,700,000 after buying an additional 108,373 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Marten Transport by 6.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 726,075 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,895,000 after purchasing an additional 42,129 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 0.9% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 872,126 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $15,489,000 after purchasing an additional 7,464 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marten Transport Company Profile

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.