Matson (NYSE:MATX) Earns “Buy” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their buy rating on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $135.00 price target on the shipping company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Matson Stock Up 0.5%

MATX stock opened at $114.62 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Matson has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.31.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 8.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $914,196.80. This trade represents a 50.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.