Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard Isotoff Sells 1,250 Shares of Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,574.10. The trade was a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Matson Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $214.41 on Thursday. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.90.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Matson by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,021,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Matson by 0.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,749 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,418,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MATX. Wall Street Zen raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens boosted their price target on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Matson presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.