Matson (NYSE:MATX) Hits New 12-Month High at $135.06

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $135.06 and last traded at $135.03, with a volume of 6405 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Matson Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.91.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.44 million. Matson had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 12.66%. Matson’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total value of $98,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,492,547. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.83, for a total value of $1,054,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 98,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,047,742.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total value of $98,765.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,492,547. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 74,624 shares of company stock valued at $9,501,939. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after acquiring an additional 215,452 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Matson by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $291,386,000 after purchasing an additional 43,846 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Matson by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,131,000 after purchasing an additional 59,652 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Matson by 18.1% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 282,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,783,000 after buying an additional 43,324 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Matson by 3,509.3% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,233,000 after buying an additional 183,676 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.