Financial Survey: Marten Transport (MRTN) versus Its Rivals

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) is one of 100 public companies in the “Ground Transportation” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Marten Transport to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Marten Transport and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marten Transport	1.55%	1.74%	1.40%
Marten Transport Competitors	7.29%	13.08%	4.24%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Marten Transport and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marten Transport	$883.65 million	$17.44 million	65.22
Marten Transport Competitors	$8.74 billion	$911.04 million	5.93

Marten Transport’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Marten Transport. Marten Transport is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

69.1% of Marten Transport shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.5% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are held by institutional investors. 22.6% of Marten Transport shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 15.2% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Marten Transport has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marten Transport’s peers have a beta of 1.14, meaning that their average stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Marten Transport and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marten Transport	1	2	0	1	2.25
Marten Transport Competitors	1362	6527	8695	266	2.47

Marten Transport presently has a consensus target price of $12.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.47%. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies have a potential upside of 20.85%. Given Marten Transport’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marten Transport has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Dividends

Marten Transport pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marten Transport pays out 133.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.6% and pay out 27.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Marten Transport peers beat Marten Transport on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Dedicated segment offers customized transportation solutions for individual customers' requirements using temperature-controlled trailers, dry vans, and other specialized equipment. The Intermodal segment transports customers' freight utilizing its refrigerated containers and temperature-controlled trailers on railroad flatcars for portions of trips, as well as using tractors and contracted carriers. The Brokerage segment develops contractual relationships with and arranges for third-party carriers to transport freight for customers in temperature-controlled trailers and dry vans. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a fleet of 3,349 tractors, that included 3,255 company-owned tractors and 94 tractors supplied by independent contractors. Marten Transport, Ltd. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin.