Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

MATX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Matson in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.25.

Matson Stock Down 2.6%

MATX stock opened at $224.68 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. Matson has a one year low of $86.97 and a one year high of $240.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $221.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.46.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.92 EPS. Matson’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Matson will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,574.10. The trade was a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total value of $510,788.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,059.32. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,462 shares of company stock worth $2,695,832. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson during the second quarter worth approximately $216,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 269.3% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 35,230 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,772,000 after acquiring an additional 25,691 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 247.3% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after acquiring an additional 15,189 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 112,722 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,669,000 after purchasing an additional 15,657 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containers, vehicles, construction materials, food products and other cargo between the U.S. mainland and the noncontiguous markets of Hawaii, Alaska and Guam, as well as locations in the South Pacific and Micronesia.

Matson also operates ocean transportation services connecting the U.S. West Coast with China and Japan.