Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.33.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $207.84 on Thursday. Matson has a 52-week low of $86.97 and a 52-week high of $230.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $201.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 1.27.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The business had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Matson will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 10.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 7,173 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total value of $1,292,502.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,595,926.14. This represents a 21.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total transaction of $527,884.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,951,625.68. This trade represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 15,733 shares of company stock valued at $2,863,990 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. SouthState Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.