Matson (NYSE:MATX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

MATX has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $138.30 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $130.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Matson has a one year low of $82.68 and a one year high of $138.84.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $847.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $861.68 million. Matson had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 10.41%. Research analysts expect that Matson will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.62, for a total transaction of $215,796.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,973 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,352.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 3,354 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.48, for a total value of $444,337.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,589,943.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.62, for a total value of $215,796.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,352.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,876 shares of company stock valued at $12,400,615. 2.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 5.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after buying an additional 215,452 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $291,386,000 after purchasing an additional 43,846 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Matson by 4.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 911,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $119,422,000 after purchasing an additional 36,901 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 52.1% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 356,416 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,680,000 after purchasing an additional 122,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Matson by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,131,000 after buying an additional 59,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

About Matson

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.