Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $17.12 and last traded at $17.11, with a volume of 601563 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRTN shares. Weiss Ratings raised Marten Transport from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research raised Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Stephens cut Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.22 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.90.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $203.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.20 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 1.89%. The business’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is 126.32%.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Boston Partners bought a new position in Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $10,466,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 128.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 924,406 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,520,000 after acquiring an additional 520,274 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 128.4% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 921,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,827,000 after acquiring an additional 518,280 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 2,296.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 444,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 425,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 6.6% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,122,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,265,000 after acquiring an additional 376,487 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.