Matson (NYSE:MATX) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $154.83 and last traded at $154.3910, with a volume of 142846 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $144.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Matson Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.76.

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

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 10.96%.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 124.3% in the third 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. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 67.1% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 442 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.