Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Kuuhaku Park Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Kuuhaku Park sold 1,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $208,490.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,081,564.16. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock traded up $10.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $214.41. 239,233 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,274. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $230.74. The business’s 50-day moving average is $202.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.52.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $952,903,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Matson during the 3rd quarter worth $26,415,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,637,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at $32,761,000. 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.