Matson (NYSE:MATX) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Matson Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of MATX stock opened at $107.70 on Wednesday. Matson has a 1 year low of $62.71 and a 1 year high of $122.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. Matson had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 9.60%. The business had revenue of $788.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Matson will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 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.