Matson (NYSE:MATX) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $108.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Matson has a 52 week low of $60.30 and a 52 week high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Matson had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The business had revenue of $788.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Matson will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 8th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 15.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 109.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.