Wolfe Research Downgrades Matson (NYSE:MATX) to Peer Perform

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was downgraded by analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on MATX. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Matson Trading Down 1.0 %

MATX opened at $152.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $142.09 and its 200-day moving average is $131.77. Matson has a 52-week low of $93.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares in the company, valued at $1,274,776.16. The trade was a 9.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total transaction of $497,910.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,629,929.87. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,645 shares of company stock worth $3,677,960. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 283.4% during the first 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 period. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 31.5% during the second quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 75,070 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,832,000 after acquiring an additional 17,992 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the first quarter valued at $542,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 98.1% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,044 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 4,973 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at $559,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.