Matson (NYSE:MATX) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $165.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock.

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

Matson Trading Up 2.2 %

MATX opened at $137.82 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $148.81 and its 200-day moving average is $137.74. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 1.04. Matson has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year high of $169.12. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.73 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 12,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,109,297.50. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,629,929.87. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,646 shares of company stock worth $1,578,768 over the last quarter. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Matson in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $92,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently 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.