Matson (NYSE:MATX) Receives Overweight Rating from Stephens

Matson (NYSE:MATX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $135.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock. Stephens’ target price points to a potential upside of 12.87% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

Matson Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MATX stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.61. The stock had a trading volume of 33,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,068. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Matson has a 52-week low of $67.97 and a 52-week high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Matson’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Matson will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total transaction of $98,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,492,547. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.48, for a total transaction of $314,944.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,830.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total value of $98,765.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,547. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,656 shares of company stock worth $746,256. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after buying an additional 215,452 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $291,386,000 after purchasing an additional 43,846 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 11.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 653,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $57,989,000 after buying an additional 65,736 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 4.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 355,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $31,540,000 after buying an additional 13,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia grew its position in Matson by 1.5% during the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 303,948 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,966,000 after buying an additional 4,455 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.