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

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $141.75.

MATX has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Matson from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Matson by 124.3% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 67.1% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Matson during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $111.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.25. Matson has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $156.95.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $880.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $837.72 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.Matson’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.96%.

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.