Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $131.6667.

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Matson Stock Down 6.5%

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $88.04 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Matson has a 52-week low of $86.97 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.68. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 1.21.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The company had revenue of $830.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total value of $114,777.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 67.1% in 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. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Matson in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Matson in the first quarter valued at $34,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Matson by 495.3% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 381 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Matson by 42.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 442 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by 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.