John Lauer Sells 8,603 Shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) EVP John Lauer sold 8,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.13, for a total transaction of $1,429,216.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,943,593.94. This trade represents a 26.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $152.94 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $177.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $152.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $851.90 million during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Matson by 124.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Bank Corp acquired a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their target price on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.25.

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.