Insider Selling: Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Sells $260,375.00 in Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total value of $260,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,359,574.10. This represents a 16.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Matson Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of Matson stock opened at $217.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $204.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.55. The company has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter worth approximately $952,903,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 144.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Matson in the third quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth approximately $50,637,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter worth $32,761,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MATX shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.