Matson (NYSE:MATX) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Separately, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Stock Down 4.2 %

Matson stock opened at $125.62 on Friday. Matson has a twelve month low of $82.68 and a twelve month high of $138.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 1.09.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $847.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $861.68 million. Matson had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 10.41%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Matson will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,175.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 744 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $96,072.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,369 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,208.97. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,175.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 104,376 shares of company stock worth $13,565,120. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the second quarter worth about $27,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the second quarter worth about $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Security National Bank purchased a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.