Insider Selling: Matson (NYSE:MATX) EVP Sells 8,603 Shares of Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) EVP John Lauer sold 8,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.13, for a total value of $1,429,216.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,943,593.94. This represents a 26.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Matson Stock Down 3.7%

Matson stock traded down $5.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $152.94. 336,051 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 310,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.11. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $177.51.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MATX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,456 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,639,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 3.3% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 19.1% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 749 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MATX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.25.

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.