Matson (NYSE:MATX) Receives “Buy” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their buy rating on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens cut their target price on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX opened at $114.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Matson has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.96%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $914,196.80. The trade was a 50.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Matson by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,124 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,570,000 after purchasing an additional 36,156 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Matson by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $4,328,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 416,473 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 177,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $544,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.