Matson (MATX) Competitors

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) and Matson (NYSE:MATX) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, risk, earnings, valuation, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, dividends and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer KEX or MATX?

Kirby received 261 more outperform votes than Matson when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.19% of users gave Matson an outperform vote while only 60.77% of users gave Kirby an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Kirby	Outperform Votes 539 60.77%	Underperform Votes 348 39.23%
Matson	Outperform Votes 278 62.19%	Underperform Votes 169 37.81%

Do analysts rate KEX or MATX?

Kirby presently has a consensus price target of $130.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.09%. Matson has a consensus price target of $138.33, suggesting a potential upside of 21.71%. Given Matson's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Kirby.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kirby	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Matson	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is KEX or MATX more profitable?

Matson has a net margin of 12.37% compared to Kirby's net margin of 8.78%. Matson's return on equity of 16.89% beat Kirby's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kirby	8.78%	9.71%	5.46%
Matson	12.37%	16.89%	9.54%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in KEX or MATX?

96.2% of Kirby shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Kirby shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Matson shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, KEX or MATX?

Matson has higher revenue and earnings than Kirby. Matson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kirby, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kirby	$3.24B	1.89	$286.71M	$5.05	21.62
Matson	$3.48B	1.07	$297.10M	$15.18	7.49

Which has more volatility & risk, KEX or MATX?

Kirby has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to KEX or MATX?

In the previous week, Kirby had 7 more articles in the media than Matson. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Kirby and 12 mentions for Matson. Kirby's average media sentiment score of 1.40 beat Matson's score of 1.04 indicating that Kirby is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kirby	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Matson	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Matson beats Kirby on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.