Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Receives $232.33 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $232.3333.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MATX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th.

Matson Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of MATX stock opened at $204.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $202.49 and a 200-day moving average of $180.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Matson has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $230.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total transaction of $527,884.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,625.68. This represents a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Grace M. Cerocke sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.57, for a total value of $220,284.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 17,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,301,690.02. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,060 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,012. Company insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter worth about $952,903,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,671,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $453,616,000 after buying an additional 21,516 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,982,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,975,000 after buying an additional 21,463 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after buying an additional 128,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 144.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.