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

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a decline of 23.5% from the April 30th total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 522,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 4.4% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, 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 value 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 $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $914,196.80. This represents a 50.70% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,182 shares of company stock valued at $1,606,286 over the last quarter. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners grew its position in Matson by 424.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 958,170 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $121,428,000 after buying an additional 775,600 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at $35,016,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $34,897,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Matson during the 1st quarter valued at $23,325,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 416,473 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $56,157,000 after acquiring an additional 177,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX traded up $1.76 on Tuesday, reaching $113.49. The company had a trading volume of 309,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 341,784. Matson has a 1 year low of $91.75 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $108.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.62.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. Matson's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Matson's payout ratio is 8.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Matson presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.33.

Matson Company Profile

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.