Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,170,000 shares, a decrease of 20.9% from the February 13th total of 1,480,000 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 277,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Matson by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MATX. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE MATX traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $128.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 338,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 257,390. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.05. Matson has a 52 week low of $100.50 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. Equities analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

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.