Stephens Trims Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Target Price to $21.00

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

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

Marten Transport Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $16.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.96. Marten Transport has a twelve month low of $15.33 and a twelve month high of $23.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.12. Marten Transport had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The business had revenue of $249.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $262.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 387,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,166,000 after acquiring an additional 6,429 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the 1st quarter worth $2,988,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $91,023,000 after purchasing an additional 132,407 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,655,000. Finally, Empirical Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $9,997,000. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.