Matson (NYSE:MATX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MATX. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stephens boosted their target price on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $232.33.

Matson Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Matson stock opened at $208.93 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $202.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Matson has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $230.74. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.27.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 earnings per share. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Matson will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Grace M. Cerocke sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.57, for a total value of $220,284.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 17,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,301,690.02. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total value of $275,196.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,757,633.40. This trade represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,060 shares of company stock valued at $1,121,012 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth $952,903,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 144.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth about $26,415,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth about $50,637,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,761,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.