Matson (NYSE:MATX) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $190.00 and last traded at $186.1010, with a volume of 64675 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $188.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MATX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.25.

Matson Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $147.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. Matson had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 3,331 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $600,046.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,547 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,719,796.58. The trade was a 25.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 13,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.46, for a total transaction of $2,150,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 32,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,407,067.34. The trade was a 28.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 62,513 shares of company stock worth $10,635,702. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MATX. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,415,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at $32,761,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $17,276,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after buying an additional 128,994 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.