Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company 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 report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.33.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $223.14 on Friday. Matson has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $183.76.

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. The firm had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,359,574.10. This trade represents a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total value of $1,100,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,506 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,395.90. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,169 shares of company stock valued at $2,933,211 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at about $142,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at about $933,000. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $609,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.