Matson (NYSE:MATX) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $125.00 price objective on the shipping company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.33.

Matson Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of Matson stock opened at $106.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Matson has a 52-week low of $92.90 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.30.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.