Matson (NYSE:MATX) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $169.00 and last traded at $168.92, with a volume of 144356 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $163.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Stephens lifted their target price on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Stock Up 2.1 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $138.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 11.31%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 3,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.48, for a total transaction of $444,337.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,589,943.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 3,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.48, for a total transaction of $444,337.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,589,943.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.62, for a total value of $215,796.30. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,973 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,352.26. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,864 shares of company stock worth $3,716,059 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $447,810,000 after purchasing an additional 215,452 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 4,167,726.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 958,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $136,716,000 after purchasing an additional 958,577 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 911,827 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $119,422,000 after purchasing an additional 36,901 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,716 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $56,437,000 after purchasing an additional 20,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Matson by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 356,416 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,680,000 after purchasing an additional 122,017 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.