Richard Kinney Sells 5,225 Shares of Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Richard Kinney sold 5,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.32, for a total transaction of $863,797.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,115,248.72. This represents a 43.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX stock traded down $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.24. 250,014 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,667. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $177.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.20.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The firm had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 5th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Matson during the third quarter worth about $26,415,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,503,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

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.