Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Sells 2,509 Shares

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott sold 2,509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $388,895.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,615. This represents a 14.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Matson Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of NYSE MATX traded down $4.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $149.16. 552,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 316,107. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $154.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.30. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $177.51.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The firm had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Matson by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 127,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after purchasing an additional 34,631 shares during the period. Paradiem LLC increased its position in Matson by 27.9% in the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 102,721 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,127,000 after buying an additional 22,393 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Matson in the third quarter valued at $740,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,300,000 after acquiring an additional 35,229 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at $377,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MATX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.25.

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.