Matson (NYSE:MATX) SVP Jennifer Tungul Sells 402 Shares

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Jennifer Tungul sold 402 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $83,812.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,852 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,083.48. This trade represents a 6.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Matson Trading Up 4.9%

MATX opened at $214.41 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $203.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.90. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.92 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. 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 dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 10.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MATX. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One research 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, Matson currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.33.

Matson News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Matson this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Matson’s latest quarter showed strong operating momentum: earnings per share reached $4.27 versus the $3.79 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.7% year over year to $969.4 million, well above forecasts. Full-year earnings are projected at approximately $16.01 per share.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have recently raised their outlook for MATX. JPMorgan lifted its price target to $270, Stephens raised its target to $260, and multiple firms upgraded the stock to Buy or Strong Buy. The consensus price target is $232.33. Shipping stocks and analyst outlook article
• Positive Sentiment: Matson increased its quarterly dividend to $0.38 per share from $0.36, implying an annualized payout of $1.52. Although the approximately 0.7% yield is modest, the increase reinforces confidence in cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional investors own approximately 84.8% of Matson’s shares, while several smaller funds recently initiated positions. These ownership changes suggest continued institutional interest but are not major near-term catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: Four Matson senior vice presidents sold a combined 4,569 shares for roughly $952,000 on August 11. Kuuhaku Park sold 1,000 shares, Leonard Isotoff sold 1,250, Jennifer Tungul sold 402 and John Warren Sullivan sold 1,917. The transactions reduced their individual holdings by approximately 6% to 20%, though each executive retained shares. Matson insider selling article

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Matson during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.