Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Plans Dividend Increase - $0.36 Per Share

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.36 per share by the shipping company on Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This is a 5.9% increase from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34.

Matson has a payout ratio of 13.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Matson to earn $10.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.3%.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.00. 587,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,171. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.38 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $109.56 and a 200 day moving average of $124.58. Matson has a 12 month low of $91.75 and a 12 month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Matson in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Matson by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,511 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 11.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 24,459 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,135,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Matson by 8.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,346 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,300,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 7.1% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 102,629 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $13,154,000 after buying an additional 6,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MATX shares. Stephens reduced their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.33.

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.