Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the January 31st total of 1,210,000 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 265,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $3,502,000. Brucke Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 3,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Matson stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $133.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 193,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,349. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $139.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.05. Matson has a one year low of $100.50 and a one year high of $169.12.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.69%.

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.