Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott Sells 1,520 Shares

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott sold 1,520 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total value of $275,196.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,757,633.40. The trade was a 13.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Matson Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of MATX traded down $4.16 on Thursday, hitting $184.46. 143,703 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 283,174. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $86.97 and a one year high of $190.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $147.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.55 million. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.18 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 7th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,940,000 after buying an additional 22,516 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in Matson by 24.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 45,745 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,499,000 after acquiring an additional 8,860 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in Matson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,821 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $790,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,506 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MATX shares. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Matson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.25.

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.