Matson’s (MATX) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $165.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Up 1.7 %

MATX stock opened at $140.11 on Thursday. Matson has a twelve month low of $100.50 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $148.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.88.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.40 EPS. Matson’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000.04. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total value of $124,125.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,109,297.50. This trade represents a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,646 shares of company stock valued at $1,578,768. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Matson by 0.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 6.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Matson by 1.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.