Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $14.14 and traded as high as $17.64. Marten Transport shares last traded at $17.46, with a volume of 647,660 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens downgraded Marten Transport from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird raised Marten Transport to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Marten Transport from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.17.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $203.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.20 million. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 1.89%. The company’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.32%.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRTN. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 121,536 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 76,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 4.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,496 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 3.4% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 48,628 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 12.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,028 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Inc is a North American transportation services provider offering temperature-controlled and dry van truckload services. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin, the company specializes in full truckload, dedicated contract carriage, intermodal and port drayage solutions. Its core focus on refrigerated and produce freight has made it a key partner for food manufacturers, retailers and other shippers requiring strict temperature management.

The company maintains a modern fleet of tractors and trailers equipped with advanced telematics, electronic logging devices and continuous temperature monitoring.