Matson (NYSE:MATX) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $131.92, but opened at $141.70. Matson shares last traded at $141.8890, with a volume of 41,829 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MATX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Matson Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $117.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.33.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $880.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $837.72 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.23%. Matson’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Matson during the 3rd quarter worth $26,415,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth about $21,037,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,183,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.