Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Dropped to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MRTN. Stephens lowered their price target on Marten Transport from $15.00 to $12.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Friday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.50.

Marten Transport Stock Down 4.2%

Shares of Marten Transport stock opened at $11.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $961.95 million, a P/E ratio of 65.45 and a beta of 1.00. Marten Transport has a fifty-two week low of $9.35 and a fifty-two week high of $18.48. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.22.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a net margin of 1.55% and a return on equity of 1.74%. The firm had revenue of $223.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $230.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marten Transport

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 25.4% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 48,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 9,903 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 163.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 9,662 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 1,661.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 2,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 56,449 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 24,741 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,723,602 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,254,000 after purchasing an additional 126,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Marten Transport

Here are the key news stories impacting Marten Transport this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter net income increased 30.7% year over year to $2.9 million, or $0.04 per diluted share. Operating income rose 11.9% to $3.1 million, while operating expenses improved slightly to 98.6% of revenue from 98.8% a year earlier. Marten Transport Announces Third Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Freight trends showed some improvement: truckload revenue climbed 11.9% to $117.3 million, fuel-surcharge revenue rose to $39.0 million from $26.5 million, and dedicated and brokerage operations generated $67.2 million and $38.7 million, respectively. Marten Transport Q3 Net Income Rises 31% to $2.9 Million
• Neutral Sentiment: Marten Transport held $91.5 million in cash at September 30, providing financial flexibility, although nine-month net income declined to $9.6 million from $13.7 million and revenue fell to $650.3 million from $673.5 million. Marten Transport Q3 Net Income Rises 31% to $2.9 Million
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly EPS of $0.04 missed the $0.06 consensus estimate, while revenue of $223.2 million fell short of the $230.4 million forecast. The results indicate that costs continue to limit the benefit of recovering freight rates. Marten Transport Misses Q3 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Stephens lowered its price target from $15.00 to $12.50 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, signaling limited near-term upside. Zacks also added MRTN to its Rank #5 “Strong Sell” list. Stephens Stock Recommendations

Marten Transport Company Profile

Marten Transport, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin. Founded in 1946, the company began as a regional carrier and has developed into a provider of temperature-sensitive and dry freight transportation services.

The company’s operations include refrigerated and dry truck-based transportation, dedicated transportation, intermodal services, and brokerage. Marten Transport serves customers across a range of industries, including food and consumer products, using refrigerated trailers, dry vans, intermodal equipment, and related logistics capabilities.

Marten Transport primarily serves the contiguous United States and also provides transportation services involving Canada and Mexico.