Brokerages Set Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) PT at $232.33

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATXGet Free Report) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $232.3333.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MATX shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MATX

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP John Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $399,675.33. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,590,778.70. This represents a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total transaction of $510,788.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,786,059.32. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716 over the last ninety days. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Matson by 14,734.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,706,810 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $328,100,000 after buying an additional 1,695,304 shares during the period. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at about $142,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth about $933,000. Finally, Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth about $1,512,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $226.05 on Thursday. Matson has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $212.02 and its 200-day moving average is $187.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 1.26.

Matson (NYSE:MATXGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.92 earnings per share. Matson’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Matson will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

About Matson

(Get Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories

Analyst Recommendations for Matson (NYSE:MATX)

Receive News & Ratings for Matson Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Matson and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.