Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Lowered to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Stephens upped their target price on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $154.40 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $141.52 and a 200-day moving average of $131.45. Matson has a 1 year low of $93.75 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $965.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 11.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total transaction of $124,125.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,109,297.50. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total value of $497,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,629,929.87. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,614 shares of company stock worth $4,338,094. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MATX. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Matson in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Matson

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.