Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Stephens

Posted by Francis Steltz on Oct 26th, 2026

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN – Free Report) had its target price decreased by Stephens from $15.00 to $12.50 in a report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed 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 issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

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Marten Transport Stock Performance

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $11.78 on Friday. Marten Transport has a 52-week low of $9.35 and a 52-week high of $18.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.55 and a 200-day moving average of $15.23. The company has a market capitalization of $961.95 million, a P/E ratio of 65.45 and a beta of 1.00.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $230.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Marten Transport will post 0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marten Transport

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at $8,433,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the second quarter valued at about $6,072,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Marten Transport by 3.1% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,058,930 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $174,522,000 after buying an additional 298,912 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Marten Transport during the second quarter valued at about $4,438,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the second quarter worth about $2,305,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

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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.