Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $13.52 and last traded at $13.61, with a volume of 394407 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Marten Transport Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 40.09 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.13 and a 200-day moving average of $16.20.

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

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is currently 70.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,627,111 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $46,500,000 after acquiring an additional 303,132 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter valued at about $181,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 940,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,646,000 after acquiring an additional 38,990 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Marten Transport by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,232 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 11,883 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.