Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $249.25.

MATX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Matson from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Freedom Broker began coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Matson from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP John Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $399,675.33. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,778.70. This represents a 20.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Matson during the second quarter worth $952,903,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Matson during the second quarter worth $50,637,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in Matson during the second quarter worth $45,796,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in Matson by 12,239.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 233,584 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $51,304,000 after acquiring an additional 231,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the first quarter valued at $32,761,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MATX opened at $231.96 on Friday. Matson has a twelve month low of $96.70 and a twelve month high of $240.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $227.39 and a 200-day moving average of $191.07.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Matson will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th.

About Matson

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containerized and bulk cargo, automobiles and other goods between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and selected South Pacific destinations. Matson also operates services linking the U.S. West Coast with China, Japan and South Korea.

The company serves a broad range of customers, including retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, government agencies and individual consumers.