Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Issues Earnings Results

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12, Yahoo Finance reports. Marten Transport had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The business had revenue of $249.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $262.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MRTN traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $15.97. The stock had a trading volume of 774,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,460. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.51 and a 200-day moving average of $19.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 0.79. Marten Transport has a 12-month low of $15.87 and a 12-month high of $23.38.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.59%.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,991,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $106,413,000 after acquiring an additional 40,954 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,023,000 after acquiring an additional 132,407 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,875,734 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,370,000 after acquiring an additional 231,754 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,299,303 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,609,000 after acquiring an additional 59,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,201,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,826,000 after acquiring an additional 31,650 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Vertical Research raised shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th.

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.