Matson (NYSE:MATX) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Matson (NYSE:MATX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $111.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.59. Matson has a 52 week low of $64.21 and a 52 week high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 8.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 2,800 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.48, for a total transaction of $314,944.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $533,830.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 2,800 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.48, for a total transaction of $314,944.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,746 shares in the company, valued at $533,830.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Matson by 450.4% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 239,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,243,000 after purchasing an additional 195,939 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Matson during the third quarter worth approximately $14,074,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at $10,295,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 653,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,989,000 after acquiring an additional 65,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,131,000 after acquiring an additional 59,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.