Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Price

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its target price hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on MATX. Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

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. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $139.41 and a 200-day moving average of $141.09. Matson has a 52-week low of $100.50 and a 52-week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Matson by 28.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,417 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,628,000 after buying an additional 2,511 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Matson during the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Matson by 14,162.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 42,786 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,102,000 after purchasing an additional 42,486 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 6.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during 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.