A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) and Matson (NYSE:MATX) Financial Analysis

Matson (NYSE:MATX) and A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Matson has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, A.P. Moller-Maersk has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Matson shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Matson and A.P. Moller-Maersk”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.46 billion	1.97	$444.80 million	$14.96	15.26
A.P. Moller-Maersk	$53.99 billion	1.00	$2.73 billion	$0.78	21.91

A.P. Moller-Maersk has higher revenue and earnings than Matson. Matson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than A.P. Moller-Maersk, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Matson and A.P. Moller-Maersk, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0	1	5	0	2.83
A.P. Moller-Maersk	5	6	0	2	1.92

Matson presently has a consensus target price of $249.25, suggesting a potential upside of 9.15%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Profitability

This table compares Matson and A.P. Moller-Maersk’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matson	13.41%	16.94%	10.01%
A.P. Moller-Maersk	4.08%	4.39%	2.82%

Dividends

Matson pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. A.P. Moller-Maersk pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Matson pays out 10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. A.P. Moller-Maersk pays out 25.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Matson has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Summary

Matson beats A.P. Moller-Maersk on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

About A.P. Moller-Maersk

A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transport and logistics business in Denmark and internationally. It operates through Ocean, Logistics & Services, Terminals, and Towage & Maritime Services segments. The Ocean segment is involved in container shipping activities, including demurrage and detention, terminal handling, documentation and container services, and container storage, as well as transshipment hubs. The Logistics & Services segment offers integrated transportation solutions; fulfillment and management solutions, such as landside and air transportation; warehousing, distribution, and depot services; and supply chain management, cold chain logistics, and custom brokerage services. The Terminals segment engages in gateway terminal activities. The Towage & Maritime Services segment provides offshore towage and marine services under the Svitzer brand; reefer containers; offshore supply services; trading; and marine services and integrated solutions to the energy sector. It also offers digital solutions that offer booking, managing, tracking of shipments, and other related activities. The company serves fashion and lifestyle, retail, automotive, chemicals, technology, and FMCG industries. A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.