Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marten Transport has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $19.00.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MRTN traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $12.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 79,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,656. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.98 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.44. Marten Transport has a 1 year low of $9.35 and a 1 year high of $16.95.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced 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 net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 2.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 74.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 108,788 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after buying an additional 46,574 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $945,000. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in Marten Transport by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 5,745,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $74,640,000 after acquiring an additional 508,486 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at $613,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,087,404 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,115,000 after purchasing an additional 126,331 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.