Matthew J. Cox Sells 7,843 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,825.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at $30,076,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Matson Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $130.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $118.48 and a 200-day moving average of $113.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.11. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.04 and a twelve month high of $133.53.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $1,958,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 64,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,014,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP raised its position in shares of Matson by 579.8% during the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 16,819 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 14,345 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 105.0% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 37,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,316,000 after purchasing an additional 19,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Matson by 450.4% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.