Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MRTN. Vertical Research cut Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Stephens reduced their price objective on Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on Marten Transport in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marten Transport currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Marten Transport Trading Up 2.1 %

Marten Transport stock traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.61. 518,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 454,964. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.78 and a 200 day moving average of $18.24. Marten Transport has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $23.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.11 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 4.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Douglas Paul Petit sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.22, for a total value of $81,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 31,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $575,752. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MRTN. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the first quarter worth $24,122,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth $9,997,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Marten Transport by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,506,000 after acquiring an additional 451,340 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the first quarter worth $2,988,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Marten Transport by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,023,000 after acquiring an additional 132,407 shares in the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Marten Transport

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.