Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) had its target price increased by Jefferies Financial Group from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the shipping company's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MATX. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Matson Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE MATX traded down $1.32 on Tuesday, reaching $114.81. The company had a trading volume of 364,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,178. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Matson has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The company's fifty day moving average is $113.18 and its 200-day moving average is $133.73.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. Matson's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Matson's dividend payout ratio is 8.96%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction 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 $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. Insiders sold a total of 11,682 shares of company stock worth $1,550,551 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Matson by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,124 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $43,570,000 after purchasing an additional 36,156 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in Matson by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $24,707,000 after buying an additional 8,704 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,328,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 73.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $544,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

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.