Christopher Scott Sells 1,520 Shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Christopher Scott sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total value of $275,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,757,633.40. The trade was a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $181.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $170.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.95. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $190.00. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.30.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.55 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.18 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 7th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Millennium Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,415,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,761,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,276,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Matson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Matson in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.25.

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.