Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

MATX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens upped their price objective on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.25.

Matson Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of MATX stock opened at $152.94 on Friday. Matson has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $177.51. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $152.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $847.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 5,225 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.32, for a total value of $863,797.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,115,248.72. This trade represents a 43.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kevin L. Stuck sold 2,524 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.08, for a total value of $421,709.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $389,463.48. This trade represents a 51.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,645,707. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Matson by 124.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.