Matson (NYSE:MATX) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $232.42 and last traded at $230.1370, with a volume of 16961 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $227.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MATX. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.33.

Matson Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.71. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 10.16%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total value of $510,788.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,059.32. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher A. Scott sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $131,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,944.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832 in the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,276,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,017,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Matson by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,940,000 after buying an additional 22,516 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 887.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,441,000 after buying an additional 51,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and related supply-chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containerized and non-containerized freight, automobiles, food, household goods, construction materials and other cargo.

Matson operates ocean transportation services connecting the U.S. mainland with Hawaii, Alaska and select destinations in the South Pacific and Micronesia. The company also provides expedited service between China and the United States and maintains logistics operations that support domestic and international freight movement.

Matson Logistics offers intermodal transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, supply-chain management and other distribution services.