Stifel Nicolaus Increases Matson (NYSE:MATX) Price Target to $111.00

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $109.00 to $111.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Matson from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Matson Trading Up 3.9 %

Matson stock opened at $113.36 on Wednesday. Matson has a 52-week low of $62.71 and a 52-week high of $122.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.08.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.44 million. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Matson will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MATX. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,107,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 4,866 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,649 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Matson by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 22,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% 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.