Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $148.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MATX shares. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th.

Matson Trading Down 1.2%

MATX stock opened at $144.45 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $120.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $154.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.99. Matson had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 12.70%.The company had revenue of $880.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $837.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 2.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,300,000 after acquiring an additional 35,229 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 317,422 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,345,000 after purchasing an additional 19,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.