Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) to Issue $0.06 Quarterly Dividend

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share by the transportation company on Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th.

Marten Transport has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Marten Transport has a payout ratio of 46.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Marten Transport to earn $0.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

MRTN opened at $14.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $16.53 and a 200-day moving average of $15.08. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.65 and a beta of 0.95. Marten Transport has a fifty-two week low of $9.35 and a fifty-two week high of $18.48.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.47% and a return on equity of 1.65%. The business had revenue of $223.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Marten Transport will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on MRTN shares. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.00.

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.