Matson (NYSE:MATX) Price Target Raised to $160.00

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its target price hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $150.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the shipping company’s stock.

MATX has been the subject of several other reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $144.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson has a 12 month low of $100.50 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.60 and its 200 day moving average is $141.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 4,167,726.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 958,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $136,716,000 after acquiring an additional 958,577 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,016,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,897,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 177,000 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.