Stephens Issues Positive Forecast for Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Price

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its price target boosted by Stephens from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $143.63 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.09. The firm has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.05. Matson has a 12-month low of $100.50 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 11.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Matson by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 43.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after buying an additional 4,361 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 142.5% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,346 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after buying an additional 6,080 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 78.0% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 10,425 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 4,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Matson by 7.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.