Matson (NYSE:MATX) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $131.92, but opened at $141.70. Matson shares last traded at $141.8890, with a volume of 41,829 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Matson currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.00.

Matson Stock Up 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by $0.99. The business had revenue of $880.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $837.72 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.70% and a return on equity of 16.23%. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 6th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Matson’s payout ratio is 10.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $21,037,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Matson by 42.6% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 877 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 37.4% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 127,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,541,000 after buying an additional 34,631 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 44.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 75,943 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,689,000 after acquiring an additional 23,338 shares during the period. Finally, Paradiem LLC raised its stake in Matson by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 102,721 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,127,000 after acquiring an additional 22,393 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Matson

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.