Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.25.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens upped their price target on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday.

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.31, for a total value of $1,023,103.59. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,446,588. This represents a 29.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.46, for a total transaction of $2,150,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,407,067.34. The trade was a 28.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 42,550 shares of company stock valued at $7,034,602 in the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,671,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $453,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Matson by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,982,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,463 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $123,300,000 after purchasing an additional 35,229 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after buying an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 144.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock opened at $156.07 on Thursday. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $177.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.32.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $847.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.33%.

About Matson

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.