Insider Selling: Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Sells $399,675.33 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $399,675.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,590,778.70. This trade represents a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Matson Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of MATX traded up $10.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $214.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 239,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 292,274. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.92 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $952,903,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Matson by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,671,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $453,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,516 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Matson by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,982,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $244,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,463 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 144.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stephens boosted their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.