Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Stock Now Rated “Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $239.25.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MATX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $231.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 1.30. Matson has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $240.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $220.18 and its 200 day moving average is $197.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Ku‘uhaku Park sold 1,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $208,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,081,564.16. The trade was a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Leonard Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total value of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,359,574.10. The trade was a 16.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Matson by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,749 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Matson

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containers, vehicles, construction materials, food products and other cargo between the U.S. mainland and the noncontiguous markets of Hawaii, Alaska and Guam, as well as locations in the South Pacific and Micronesia.

Matson also operates ocean transportation services connecting the U.S. West Coast with China and Japan.