Matson (NYSE:MATX) Reaches New 1-Year High at $139.49

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $139.49 and last traded at $138.07, with a volume of 211964 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $137.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Stock Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.98.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 10.41%. The business had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $861.68 million. Equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $96,072.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,208.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $96,072.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,369 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,208.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.62, for a total value of $215,796.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,352.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,376 shares of company stock worth $13,565,120. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in Matson by 1.3% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,585 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its position in Matson by 4.7% during the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its stake in Matson by 6.4% during the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,236 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is 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.