Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

MATX has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens increased their price target on Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.25.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $152.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.37. 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 has a 1-year low of $86.97 and a 1-year high of $177.51.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The company had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $847.30 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $339,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,289,448.36. This trade represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.34, for a total value of $169,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 18,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,216,782.64. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 40,041 shares of company stock worth $6,645,707 in the last ninety days. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Matson by 144.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in Matson in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,503,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.