Freedom Broker Initiates Coverage on Matson (NYSE:MATX)

Key Points

• Freedom Broker initiated coverage of Matson with a “buy” rating and a $260 price target, implying approximately 18.55% upside from the prior close.
• Matson reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $4.27 versus a $3.79 consensus estimate and revenue of $969.4 million, up 16.7% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and $239.25 price target, while institutional investors own 84.76% of the company.

Stock analysts at Freedom Broker initiated coverage on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $260.00 price target on the shipping company's stock. Freedom Broker's price target points to a potential upside of 18.55% from the company's previous close.

MATX has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matson has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.25.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX traded down $7.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $219.32. The company had a trading volume of 344,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,723. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.85. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $240.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.92 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Matson will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,359,574.10. This represents a 16.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Ku‘uhaku Park sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $208,490.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,081,564.16. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.51% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at $952,903,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,637,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth approximately $45,796,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth approximately $32,761,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,066,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

About Matson

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containers, vehicles, construction materials, food products and other cargo between the U.S. mainland and the noncontiguous markets of Hawaii, Alaska and Guam, as well as locations in the South Pacific and Micronesia.

Matson also operates ocean transportation services connecting the U.S. West Coast with China and Japan.

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