Marten Transport (MRTN) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, MRTN or HTLD?

Marten Transport has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Heartland Express. Heartland Express 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	$937.19M	1.19	$26.92M	$0.27	50.57
Heartland Express	$1.05B	0.68	-$29.72M	-$0.36	-25.35

Which has more risk & volatility, MRTN or HTLD?

Marten Transport has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Heartland Express has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend MRTN or HTLD?

Marten Transport presently has a consensus price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 39.14%. Heartland Express has a consensus price target of $9.75, indicating a potential upside of 6.85%. Given Marten Transport's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Marten Transport is more favorable than Heartland Express.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marten Transport	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Heartland Express	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.60

Does the media refer more to MRTN or HTLD?

In the previous week, Heartland Express had 7 more articles in the media than Marten Transport. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Heartland Express and 1 mentions for Marten Transport. Heartland Express' average media sentiment score of 0.58 beat Marten Transport's score of 0.48 indicating that Heartland Express is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Marten Transport	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Heartland Express	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of MRTN or HTLD?

69.1% of Marten Transport shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.5% of Heartland Express shares are held by institutional investors. 22.9% of Marten Transport shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 40.7% of Heartland Express shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is MRTN or HTLD more profitable?

Marten Transport has a net margin of 2.31% compared to Heartland Express' net margin of -2.86%. Marten Transport's return on equity of 2.82% beat Heartland Express' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marten Transport	2.31%	2.82%	2.18%
Heartland Express	-2.86%	-3.46%	-2.09%

Is MRTN or HTLD a better dividend stock?

Marten Transport pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Heartland Express pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Marten Transport pays out 88.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Heartland Express pays out -22.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Summary

Marten Transport beats Heartland Express on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.