Matson (NYSE:MATX) Price Target Raised to $175.00 at Stephens

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its target price raised by Stephens from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $143.63 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson has a 52-week low of $100.50 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.09.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results 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. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. On average, research analysts expect that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.31%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $542,759,000 after purchasing an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,562,000 after buying an additional 106,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,049,772 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $141,551,000 after buying an additional 91,172 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Matson by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 753,414 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $101,590,000 after buying an additional 58,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Matson by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 663,245 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $89,432,000 after acquiring an additional 117,545 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.