Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Sells $1,000,275.00 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.37, for a total transaction of $1,000,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,727,772.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Matson Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $131.46 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.68 and a 12 month high of $136.31. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.17.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The company had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $861.68 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MATX. StockNews.com raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,028,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Matson by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in Matson by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. U S Global Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,131 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Finally, Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 6.4% in the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.