Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

Matson Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MATX opened at $130.64 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $120.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.61. Matson has a 12 month low of $74.04 and a 12 month high of $133.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Matson will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,792 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.11, for a total transaction of $206,277.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,588 shares in the company, valued at $1,103,674.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,359 shares of company stock valued at $4,363,849. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after acquiring an additional 215,452 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Matson by 450.4% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 239,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,243,000 after purchasing an additional 195,939 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 3,509.3% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,233,000 after purchasing an additional 183,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,295,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 11.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 653,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,989,000 after purchasing an additional 65,736 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Matson

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.