Matthew J. Cox Sells 10,000 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.30, for a total transaction of $883,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 221,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,537,876.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Matson Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MATX stock opened at $89.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.37. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.51 and a fifty-two week high of $97.49.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26. Matson had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The company had revenue of $773.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $762.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 38.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 5.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 3rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 10.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $73.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Matson by 35.4% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,771 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 5,167 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Matson by 8.4% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,219 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Matson by 82.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,200 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 4,704 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter worth approximately $929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.04% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides ocean transportation and logistics services. The company's Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.