Matson (NYSE:MATX) & A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) Head to Head Analysis

A.P. Moller-Maersk (OTCMKTS:AMKBY) and Matson (NYSE:MATX) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.5% of Matson shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares A.P. Moller-Maersk and Matson”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
A.P. Moller-Maersk	$53.99 billion	1.00	$2.73 billion	$0.78	21.91
Matson	$3.46 billion	1.97	$444.80 million	$14.96	15.26

A.P. Moller-Maersk has higher revenue and earnings than Matson. Matson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than A.P. Moller-Maersk, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares A.P. Moller-Maersk and Matson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
A.P. Moller-Maersk	4.08%	4.39%	2.82%
Matson	13.41%	16.94%	10.01%

Volatility and Risk

A.P. Moller-Maersk has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its share price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for A.P. Moller-Maersk and Matson, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
A.P. Moller-Maersk	5	6	0	2	1.92
Matson	0	1	5	0	2.83

Matson has a consensus price target of $249.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.15%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Matson is more favorable than A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Dividends

A.P. Moller-Maersk pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Matson pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. A.P. Moller-Maersk pays out 25.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matson pays out 10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Matson has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years.

Summary

Matson beats A.P. Moller-Maersk on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About A.P. Moller-Maersk

A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ocean transport and logistics business in Denmark and internationally. It operates through Ocean, Logistics & Services, Terminals, and Towage & Maritime Services segments. The Ocean segment is involved in container shipping activities, including demurrage and detention, terminal handling, documentation and container services, and container storage, as well as transshipment hubs. The Logistics & Services segment offers integrated transportation solutions; fulfillment and management solutions, such as landside and air transportation; warehousing, distribution, and depot services; and supply chain management, cold chain logistics, and custom brokerage services. The Terminals segment engages in gateway terminal activities. The Towage & Maritime Services segment provides offshore towage and marine services under the Svitzer brand; reefer containers; offshore supply services; trading; and marine services and integrated solutions to the energy sector. It also offers digital solutions that offer booking, managing, tracking of shipments, and other related activities. The company serves fashion and lifestyle, retail, automotive, chemicals, technology, and FMCG industries. A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

About Matson

Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.