Matson (NYSE:MATX) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 24th.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock opened at $130.64 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $74.04 and a 12 month high of $133.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $120.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.61. The company has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,076,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,175.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,359 shares of company stock worth $4,363,849. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter worth $71,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Matson by 8.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP lifted its holdings in Matson by 283.4% in the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 8,232 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 6,085 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at about $875,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Matson by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,204 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matson Company Profile

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.