Matson (NYSE:MATX) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock opened at $112.40 on Thursday. Matson has a 12-month low of $56.51 and a 12-month high of $122.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.15.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. Matson had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $788.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Matson will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 15.27%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 105.0% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 37,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,316,000 after buying an additional 19,149 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 60,648 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,381,000 after purchasing an additional 12,285 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Matson by 317.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 24,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,197,000 after purchasing an additional 18,830 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its stake in Matson by 178.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 9,311 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 5,973 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Matson by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 285,314 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,313,000 after purchasing an additional 31,833 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.