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

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the January 31st total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 265,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Matson

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

Institutional Trading of Matson

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 43.5% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 4,361 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 142.5% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,346 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after buying an additional 6,080 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 78.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 10,425 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 4,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Up 0.5 %

MATX traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $133.88. 193,124 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 288,349. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.38. 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 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 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 analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. Sell-side analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors 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 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

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.