Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott Sells 2,509 Shares of Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott sold 2,509 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $388,895.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,252,615. The trade was a 14.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Matson Price Performance

MATX traded down $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $147.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 126,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,929. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.32. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $177.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.48. 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 (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The firm had revenue of $851.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $847.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.80 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Matson by 37.4% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 127,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,541,000 after purchasing an additional 34,631 shares during the last quarter. Paradiem LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 27.9% during the third quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 102,721 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,127,000 after acquiring an additional 22,393 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $740,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $123,300,000 after buying an additional 35,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at about $377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.