Matson (NYSE:MATX) EVP Sells $1,023,103.59 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) EVP Vic Angoco, Jr. sold 6,189 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,023,103.59. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,800 shares in the company, valued at $2,446,588. This represents a 29.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded down $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $167.24. 250,014 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,667. The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.39 and its 200-day moving average is $121.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.97 and a 1-year high of $177.51.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $847.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.Matson’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.80 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.33%.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the third quarter worth $9,503,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Matson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.25.

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.