Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Hits New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $14.55 and last traded at $14.47, with a volume of 22141 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens raised their target price on shares of Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.35 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $15.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.55.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 2.79%. Analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 70.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Marten Transport in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 5.7% during the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 28,533 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,538 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 3,231,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,199,000 after buying an additional 15,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.