Matson (NYSE:MATX) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $142.00 target price on the shipping company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Stephens increased their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Matson has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.75.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.20. The company had a trading volume of 102,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,263. Matson has a 1-year low of $86.97 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.22.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $880.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $837.72 million. Matson had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 18.90%. Matson’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 67.1% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 2.7% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 4,092 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in Matson by 4.3% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Company Profile

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.