Matson (NYSE:MATX) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Matson Trading Up 0.5 %

Matson stock opened at $108.05 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 1.12. Matson has a 12-month low of $61.51 and a 12-month high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $788.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.60 million. Matson had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matson will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.27%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Matson by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 71,867 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,078,000 after buying an additional 2,778 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Matson by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in Matson by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 57,078 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,412,000 after buying an additional 14,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $518,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.