Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Price

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its target price cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $160.00 to $130.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

MATX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens reduced their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Matson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.00.

Matson Trading Down 15.3 %

Matson stock opened at $93.27 on Tuesday. Matson has a one year low of $92.90 and a one year high of $169.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $117.51 and its 200 day moving average is $135.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $818.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s payout ratio is 9.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MATX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at $35,016,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,897,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Matson by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 416,473 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 177,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 14,218.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 175,977 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $22,555,000 after purchasing an additional 174,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $20,204,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.