Short Interest in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Drops By 23.2%

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,221,200 shares, a decline of 23.2% from the December 15th total of 1,589,963 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 361,962 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 361,962 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $123,300,000 after acquiring an additional 35,229 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 144.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Matson by 6.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 317,422 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,345,000 after buying an additional 19,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Matson during the third quarter worth about $26,415,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, reaching $146.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 397,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,383. Matson has a one year low of $86.97 and a one year high of $154.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $119.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $880.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $837.72 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.23%. Matson’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 10.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.00.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.