Matson (NYSE:MATX) Earns "Buy" Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $135.00 price target on the shipping company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.67% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stephens decreased their target price on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target 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, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.33.

Matson Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.76. 90,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 343,654. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $107.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.14. Matson has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $629,136.68. The trade was a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Matson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $542,759,000 after acquiring an additional 11,357 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 6.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,158,834 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $148,528,000 after purchasing an additional 71,902 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Matson by 424.8% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 958,170 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $121,428,000 after purchasing an additional 775,600 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 753,414 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $101,590,000 after buying an additional 58,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 663,245 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $89,432,000 after buying an additional 117,545 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.