Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms Hold Rating for Matson (NYSE:MATX)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has reaffirmed a "hold" rating for Matson's (MATX) stock with a price target of $115.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.60% from its current price.
• Several analysts have recently downgraded Matson, with Wall Street Zen downgrading it from "buy" to "hold," while Stifel Nicolaus and Stephens also reduced their respective price targets.
• Matson's latest quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $2.92, surpassing estimates, although revenue declined by 2.0% year over year.

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $115.00 target price on the shipping company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE MATX traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,005,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,745. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $111.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.54. Matson has a fifty-two week low of $91.75 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 1.22.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $830.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. The company's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's payout ratio is 9.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,712 shares in the company, 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 own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Matson during the first quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 495.3% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 381 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.