Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.06

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.06 per share by the transportation company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Marten Transport has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Marten Transport has a payout ratio of 34.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Marten Transport to earn $0.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.8%.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRTN opened at $14.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 0.84. Marten Transport has a 52-week low of $13.93 and a 52-week high of $19.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.28.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. Analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

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.