Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company 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

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens downgraded Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Marten Transport from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.34 and a 200 day moving average of $12.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 90.06 and a beta of 0.89.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted 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). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 1.68%.The business had revenue of $203.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.05 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued 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 yield of 1.4%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 126.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 6,267,340 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,322,000 after purchasing an additional 144,925 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,893,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,250,000 after purchasing an additional 37,761 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,241,782 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,217,000 after purchasing an additional 32,843 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,442,309 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,793,000 after purchasing an additional 16,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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 worth $23,672,000 after purchasing an additional 133,262 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.