Matson (NYSE:MATX) Given New $310.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised Matson’s price target to $310 from $270 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying roughly 31.84% upside from the reported share price.
• Matson shares traded at $235.13, near their 52-week high of $240.87. The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, with year-over-year revenue growth of 16.7%.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with five Buy ratings and one Hold rating, though the average price target of $249.25 is below JPMorgan’s revised target. Institutional investors own approximately 84.76% of the stock.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $270.00 to $310.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the shipping company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective points to a potential upside of 31.84% from the company's current price.

MATX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a 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. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Matson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matson has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $249.25.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock traded up $7.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $235.13. 133,225 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 286,688. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.30. Matson has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $240.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $222.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.34.

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

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, SVP Ku‘uhaku Park sold 1,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $208,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,564.16. This trade represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Peter Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total value of $1,100,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,462 shares of company stock worth $2,695,832. 2.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the third quarter valued at about $205,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 17.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,816 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 156.5% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 269.3% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 35,230 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $6,772,000 after acquiring an additional 25,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Company Profile

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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