Matson (NYSE:MATX) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Posted by Jim Brewer on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Matson from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Matson from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Matson from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Thursday, November 17th.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX stock traded down $4.04 on Thursday, reaching $60.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 935,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 306,607. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.18. Matson has a 1 year low of $58.06 and a 1 year high of $125.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.18.

Matson (NYSE:MATX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The shipping company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Matson had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 49.26%. The firm had revenue of $801.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $801.22 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $9.39 earnings per share. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was down 36.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Matson will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Kevin L. Stuck sold 2,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.48, for a total value of $186,244.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,568 shares in the company, valued at $308,248.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Matson news, Director Mark H. Fukunaga bought 1,573 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.59 per share, for a total transaction of $100,027.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,297 shares in the company, valued at $1,545,046.23. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Kevin L. Stuck sold 2,760 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.48, for a total value of $186,244.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $308,248.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 92.7% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 372 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 300.9% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 441 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Islay Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 124.9% in the third quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 650 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. 83.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Matson

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Matson, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of logistics and transportation services. It operates through the Ocean Transportation and Logistics segments. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation, container stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, and other terminal services.