Stephens Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Price

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Stephens from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential downside of 1.84% from the company’s current price.

MRTN has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marten Transport presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Marten Transport Trading Down 3.4%

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $16.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.88 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.77. Marten Transport has a 12-month low of $9.35 and a 12-month high of $18.48.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $223.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.10 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.65% and a net margin of 1.47%.Marten Transport’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.09 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 28.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Marten Transport by 49.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 557,096 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,315,000 after purchasing an additional 183,349 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 1st quarter valued at $342,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 61,545 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 17,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 889,273 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,676,000 after buying an additional 48,697 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.