Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $141.75.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Matson from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Stephens lifted their price target on Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 91.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 61,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,883,000 after purchasing an additional 29,400 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its position in Matson by 495.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 381 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Matson by 34.8% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 14,094 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 3,641 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Matson during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,532,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,515 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,011,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $123.54 on Friday. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $154.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.99. The firm had revenue of $880.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $837.72 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.96%.

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.