Insider Selling: Matson (NYSE:MATX) EVP Sells $1,100,750.00 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) EVP Peter Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,506 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,395.90. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Matson Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded down $1.47 on Thursday, reaching $216.79. The company had a trading volume of 192,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,875. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $205.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.96. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $230.74. 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 (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $17,276,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new stake in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at $2,017,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Matson by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,516 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Matson by 887.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,441,000 after purchasing an additional 51,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,398,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.33.

About Matson

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.