Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Separately, Vertical Research downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $20.00.

Marten Transport Stock Up 0.2 %

Marten Transport stock opened at $16.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.43 and a 200-day moving average of $17.58. Marten Transport has a 52-week low of $15.33 and a 52-week high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 4.17%. The company had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Marten Transport will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In related news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $136,596.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 10.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new stake in Marten Transport during the second quarter worth about $412,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Marten Transport by 6.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 31,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,997 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Marten Transport in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,334,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 49,991 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 17,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

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.