Marten Transport (MRTN) Competitors

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) and ArcBest (NASDAQ:ARCB) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MRTN or ARCB?

ArcBest has higher revenue and earnings than Marten Transport. ArcBest is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Marten Transport, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marten Transport	$963.71M	1.01	$26.92M	$0.26	46.00
ArcBest	$4.18B	0.40	$173.96M	$6.72	10.91

Does the media refer more to MRTN or ARCB?

In the previous week, ArcBest had 11 more articles in the media than Marten Transport. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for ArcBest and 4 mentions for Marten Transport. Marten Transport's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat ArcBest's score of 0.58 indicating that Marten Transport is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Marten Transport	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
ArcBest	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in MRTN or ARCB?

69.1% of Marten Transport shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.9% of Marten Transport shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of ArcBest shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is MRTN or ARCB a better dividend stock?

Marten Transport pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. ArcBest pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Marten Transport pays out 92.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ArcBest pays out 7.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Do analysts rate MRTN or ARCB?

Marten Transport presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, suggesting a potential upside of 58.86%. ArcBest has a consensus price target of $89.17, suggesting a potential upside of 21.60%. Given Marten Transport's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Marten Transport is more favorable than ArcBest.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marten Transport	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
ArcBest	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Is MRTN or ARCB more profitable?

ArcBest has a net margin of 3.90% compared to Marten Transport's net margin of 2.27%. ArcBest's return on equity of 8.67% beat Marten Transport's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marten Transport	2.27%	2.72%	2.12%
ArcBest	3.90%	8.67%	4.66%

Which has more volatility & risk, MRTN or ARCB?

Marten Transport has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ArcBest has a beta of 1.69, meaning that its share price is 69% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

ArcBest beats Marten Transport on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.