Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts hold a consensus “Buy” rating on Matson, with four buy ratings and one strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $232.33, while JPMorgan and Stephens recently raised their targets to $270 and $260, respectively.
• Matson reported quarterly EPS of $4.27, beating estimates of $3.79, while revenue rose 16.7% year over year to $969.4 million and also exceeded expectations.
• Institutional investors own 84.76% of Matson’s shares, led by a new $952.9 million BlackRock position. Company insiders, however, sold 12,462 shares worth approximately $2.7 million over the past 90 days.

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Buy" from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $232.33.

MATX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Matson from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total transaction of $510,788.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,786,059.32. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $399,675.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,778.70. This trade represents a 20.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,462 shares of company stock worth $2,695,832. Insiders own 2.51% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at $952,903,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at $50,637,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at $45,796,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Matson in the first quarter valued at $32,761,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at $38,066,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $225.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.87. Matson has a 52-week low of $86.97 and a 52-week high of $240.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05 and a beta of 1.26.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.92 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Matson will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and related supply-chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containerized and non-containerized freight, automobiles, food, household goods, construction materials and other cargo.

Matson operates ocean transportation services connecting the U.S. mainland with Hawaii, Alaska and select destinations in the South Pacific and Micronesia. The company also provides expedited service between China and the United States and maintains logistics operations that support domestic and international freight movement.

Matson Logistics offers intermodal transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, supply-chain management and other distribution services.

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