Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

MRTN has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Marten Transport has an average rating of “Sell”.

Marten Transport Stock Up 8.4%

Marten Transport stock opened at $13.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 60.59 and a beta of 0.86. Marten Transport has a 52 week low of $9.35 and a 52 week high of $15.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.02. Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 2.27%. The firm had revenue of $210.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Marten Transport will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 109.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Marten Transport by 660.8% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,929 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Marten Transport in the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Marten Transport Company Profile

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.