Stephens Raises Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Price Target to $19.00

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Stephens from $18.00 to $19.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the transportation company's stock.

MRTN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James cut Marten Transport from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Marten Transport Trading Down 3.7 %

MRTN stock traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.69. The stock had a trading volume of 775,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,504. Marten Transport has a 52 week low of $14.96 and a 52 week high of $20.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.36 and a beta of 0.83.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 3.36% and a return on equity of 4.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport's payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Insider Transactions at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,379.64. The trade was a 6.83 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Marten Transport by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 154,916 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 24.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Marten Transport during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Marten Transport by 10.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,189 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company's stock.

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.