Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Posts Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

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

Marten Transport Trading Down 1.2 %

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

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Vertical Research raised 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.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 40,954 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $91,023,000 after buying an additional 132,407 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 8.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 4.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Marten Transport by 2.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,201,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,826,000 after acquiring an additional 31,650 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.