How to buy Marten Transport stock | $17.79

Marten Transport, Ltd is a trucking business based in the US. Marten Transport shares (MRTN) are listed on the NASDAQ and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Marten Transport employs 4,087 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$864.2 million.

How to buy shares in Marten Transport

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Marten Transport. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: MRTN. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Marten Transport reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$17.79, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Marten Transport, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Marten Transport. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Marten Transport share price

Use our graph to track the performance of MRTN stocks over time.

Marten Transport shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-28.

Latest market close	USD$17.79
52-week range	USD$10.3109 - USD$18.7598
50-day moving average	USD$17.6794
200-day moving average	USD$17.3181
Wall St. target price	USD$20.5
PE ratio	21.9747
Dividend yield	USD$0.16 (0.93%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$0.79

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Is it a good time to buy Marten Transport stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Marten Transport, Ltd by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Marten Transport price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $17.79 from 2020-12-18

1 week (2021-01-11)	1.43%
1 month (2020-12-18)	0.03%
3 months (2020-10-16)	4.89%
6 months (2020-07-17)	-37.86%

1 year (2020-01-17)	-17.83%
2 years (2019-01-18)	-8.25%
3 years (2018-01-18)	21.8
5 years (2016-01-15)	9.48%

Is Marten Transport under- or over-valued?

Valuing Marten Transport stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Marten Transport's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Marten Transport's P/E ratio

Marten Transport's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 22x. In other words, Marten Transport shares trade at around 22x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Marten Transport's PEG ratio

Marten Transport's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 3.2. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Marten Transport's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Marten Transport's EBITDA

Marten Transport's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$177.2 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Marten Transport's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Marten Transport financials

Revenue TTM	USD$864.2 million
Operating margin TTM	8.74%
Gross profit TTM	USD$234.4 million
Return on assets TTM	5.76%
Return on equity TTM	10.7%
Profit margin	7.6%
Book value	$7.798
Market capitalisation	USD$1.4 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Marten Transport shares

There are currently 1.5 million Marten Transport shares held short by investors – that's known as Marten Transport's "short interest". This figure is 5.6% down from 1.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Marten Transport shares can be evaluated.

Marten Transport's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Marten Transport's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Marten Transport shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Marten Transport shares traded daily (recently around 432840.90909091). Marten Transport's SIR currently stands at 3.52. In other words for every 100,000 Marten Transport shares traded daily on the market, roughly 3520 shares are currently held short.

However Marten Transport's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Marten Transport shares, or, against the total number of tradable Marten Transport shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Marten Transport's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Marten Transport shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.041% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Marten Transport shares, roughly 41 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Marten Transport.

Find out more about how you can short Marten Transport stock.

Marten Transport share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 79.18% of net profits

Recently Marten Transport has paid out, on average, around 79.18% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0.93% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Marten Transport shareholders could enjoy a 0.93% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Marten Transport's case, that would currently equate to about $0.16 per share.

Marten Transport's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Marten Transport's most recent dividend payout was on 28 December 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 11 December 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Marten Transport's shares ever split?

Marten Transport's shares were split on a 3:2 basis on 14 August 2020. So if you had owned 2 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 3 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Marten Transport shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 33.3% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Marten Transport shares which in turn could have impacted Marten Transport's share price.

Marten Transport share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Marten Transport's shares have ranged in value from as little as $10.3109 up to $18.7598. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NASDAQ average) beta is 1, while Marten Transport's is 1.0787. This would suggest that Marten Transport's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Marten Transport overview

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It 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. The Dedicated segment offers transportation solutions for individual customers' requirements using temperature-controlled trailers, dry vans, and other specialized equipment. The Intermodal segment transports its customers' freight utilizing its temperature-controlled trailers on railroad flatcars for portions of trips, as well as using tractors and contracted carriers. The Brokerage segment develops contractual relationships with and arranges for third-party carriers to transport freight for its customers in temperature-controlled trailers and dry vans. As of December 31, 2019, the company operated a fleet of 3,212 tractors, including 3,120 company-owned tractors and 92 tractors supplied by independent contractors. Marten Transport, Ltd. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Mondovi, Wisconsin.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Marten Transport is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 29.035% of Marten Transport shares are held by insiders and 71.574% by institutions.

• How many people work for Marten Transport?

  Latest data suggests 4,087 work at Marten Transport.

• When does the fiscal year end for Marten Transport?

  Marten Transport's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Marten Transport based?

  Marten Transport's address is: 129 Marten Street, Mondovi, WI, United States, 54755

• What is Marten Transport's ISIN number?

  Marten Transport's international securities identification number is: US5730751089

• What is Marten Transport's CUSIP number?

  Marten Transport's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 573075108