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

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) had its target price hoisted by Stephens from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MRTN. StockNews.com downgraded Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James downgraded Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Marten Transport Price Performance

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $15.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $16.26 and a 200 day moving average of $16.87. Marten Transport has a 1-year low of $14.96 and a 1-year high of $20.24.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 22.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,130,000 after buying an additional 126,150 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Marten Transport by 140.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 79,689 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Marten Transport by 120.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 138,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 75,721 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Marten Transport by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 940,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,646,000 after purchasing an additional 38,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $24,977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

About Marten Transport

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.