Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Matson Stock Down 0.1 %

MATX opened at $128.90 on Monday. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $74.04 and a fifty-two week high of $133.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $117.98 and its 200 day moving average is $113.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.44 million. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that Matson will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Matson’s payout ratio is 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total transaction of $98,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,547. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,792 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.11, for a total transaction of $206,277.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,588 shares in the company, valued at $1,103,674.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total transaction of $98,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,547. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,485 shares of company stock valued at $619,987. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 5.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after purchasing an additional 215,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $291,386,000 after acquiring an additional 43,846 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 653,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,989,000 after acquiring an additional 65,736 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its position in shares of Matson by 1.5% in the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 303,948 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,966,000 after purchasing an additional 4,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Matson by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,131,000 after purchasing an additional 59,652 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Matson

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.