Matson (NYSE:MATX) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $138.69 and traded as high as $143.16. Matson shares last traded at $141.04, with a volume of 196,360 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $146.48 and a 200 day moving average of $138.81.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.73 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.31%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total transaction of $124,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,745 shares in the company, valued at $2,109,297.50. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total value of $497,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,871 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,929.87. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,646 shares of company stock worth $1,578,768. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Matson by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in Matson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Matson by 6.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently 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.