Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock opened at $109.02 on Wednesday. Matson has a one year low of $62.71 and a one year high of $122.99. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.81.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.68% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Matson will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 109.6% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.