Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $18.00 and last traded at $17.85, with a volume of 284043 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MRTN shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Stephens cut Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marten Transport has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.1%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.18 and a 200-day moving average of $13.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 93.43 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 47.1% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 693,270 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,889,000 after purchasing an additional 221,851 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,122,415 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,265,000 after purchasing an additional 376,487 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 487,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 88,891 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,220,666 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,672,000 after purchasing an additional 133,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 1,004.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 81,337 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 73,970 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

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.