Stephens Cuts Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Price Target to $21.00

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) had its price objective reduced by Stephens from $23.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

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

Marten Transport Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $16.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.98. Marten Transport has a 12-month low of $15.33 and a 12-month high of $23.38. The company has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32 and a beta of 0.79.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12. The firm had revenue of $249.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $262.77 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 7.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 33.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth $505,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 369,203 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,285 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,907,000. Scopus Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,141,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Marten Transport by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 753,287 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $14,847,000 after acquiring an additional 26,864 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.