Christopher Scott Sells 600 Shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) EVP Christopher Scott sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $131,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,056,944.60. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE:MATX traded down $1.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $216.79. The stock had a trading volume of 192,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $230.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.96.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MATX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $952,903,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,671,519 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $453,616,000 after purchasing an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Matson by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,982,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $244,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,463 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 269,310 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.