Joel M. Wine Sells 3,524 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CFO Joel M. Wine sold 3,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.94, for a total value of $468,480.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 95,450 shares in the company, valued at $12,689,123. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock opened at $128.52 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $126.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 1.09. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.68 and a 52 week high of $135.79. 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 (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $861.68 million. Matson had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 12.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, May 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Security National Bank acquired a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.