Matson (NYSE:MATX) Hits New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $177.51 and last traded at $170.7090, with a volume of 64387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.99.

The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.30 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.80 earnings per share.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s payout ratio is 10.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MATX shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $156.25.

Institutional Trading of Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Global Investments grew its position in shares of Matson by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 11,867 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $1,725,000. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth $6,303,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Matson Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $147.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.69.

About Matson

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.