Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Short Interest Update

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a growth of 51.8% from the November 30th total of 816,600 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 253,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $136.54. 114,543 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 272,737. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $148.60 and its 200-day moving average is $137.33. Matson has a twelve month low of $100.50 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 6,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $934,686.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 208,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,043,710.36. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total value of $497,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,929.87. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,145 shares of company stock worth $2,513,455. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Matson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

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.