Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Sells $247,980.00 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard Isotoff sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.32, for a total transaction of $247,980.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,285,693.64. This trade represents a 16.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Matson Trading Down 3.7%

NYSE MATX opened at $152.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.97 and a 52-week high of $177.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $152.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.11.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Matson by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 127,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after acquiring an additional 34,631 shares in the last quarter. Paradiem LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 102,721 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,127,000 after purchasing an additional 22,393 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the third quarter valued at about $740,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $377,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Matson by 2.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,300,000 after purchasing an additional 35,229 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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