Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) PT Lowered to $21.00

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) had its price objective lowered by Stephens from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, Vertical Research raised Marten Transport from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $25.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Marten Transport Trading Up 3.7 %

MRTN opened at $16.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.98. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.79. Marten Transport has a 12-month low of $15.33 and a 12-month high of $23.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12. The business had revenue of $249.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.77 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 5.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 4,463.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 689,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,605,000 after acquiring an additional 674,813 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter worth about $12,907,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marten Transport in the 4th quarter worth about $9,997,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,506,000 after buying an additional 451,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 115.3% in the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 50,869 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 383,910 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Marten Transport

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.