Matson (NYSE:MATX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Matson (NYSE:MATX) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. Matson had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.44 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded up $4.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.36. The stock had a trading volume of 364,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,566. Matson has a 1 year low of $62.71 and a 1 year high of $122.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.32% 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.