Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 938,200 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the December 31st total of 1,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 250,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX traded down $5.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $136.32. 287,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 227,632. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.69. Matson has a twelve month low of $100.50 and a twelve month high of $169.12.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 11.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total transaction of $877,393.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 32,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,350,086.72. This represents a 14.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,000.04. This trade represents a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,646 shares of company stock worth $1,578,768 over the last quarter. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Matson by 6.9% in the 3rd 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 period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.