Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MATX. Stephens raised their target price on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.25.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $149.75 on Friday. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $177.51. The business’s 50-day moving average is $155.35 and its 200-day moving average is $123.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.32.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The business had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $847.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.80 EPS. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 13,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.46, for a total transaction of $2,150,980.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 32,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,407,067.34. This trade represents a 28.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total value of $339,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,448.36. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,550 shares of company stock worth $7,034,602. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 124.3% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp acquired a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

About Matson

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.