Matson (NYSE:MATX) Price Target Raised to $270.00

Matson (NYSE:MATXFree Report) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $230.00 to $270.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on MATX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised Matson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.33.

Read Our Latest Report on Matson

Matson Stock Up 0.6%

MATX opened at $206.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $201.19 and its 200 day moving average is $179.28. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATXGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matson will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 9.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total transaction of $275,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,757,633.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total value of $450,475.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,979,206.96. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,733 shares of company stock valued at $2,863,990. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MATX. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth $44,000. SouthState Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Matson

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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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Matson (NYSE:MATX)

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