Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Matthew J. Cox Sells 10,000 Shares

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.30, for a total value of $883,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,267 shares in the company, valued at $19,537,876.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $89.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30 and a beta of 1.21. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.51 and a 52 week high of $97.49.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. The business had revenue of $773.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $762.35 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 13.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 38.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 5.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens raised their target price on Matson from $73.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Matson from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Matson by 1,004.1% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 539,337 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $41,923,000 after acquiring an additional 490,489 shares in the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC grew its position in Matson by 30.0% in the first quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 1,858,648 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $110,906,000 after acquiring an additional 429,048 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Matson by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,432,062 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $152,031,000 after acquiring an additional 240,119 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Matson by 78.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 449,441 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $34,935,000 after acquiring an additional 197,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Matson by 37.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 646,826 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,596,000 after acquiring an additional 175,321 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides ocean transportation and logistics services. The company's Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.