Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 723,200 shares, a decline of 21.5% from the October 31st total of 921,800 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 292,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.36, for a total value of $877,393.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,350,086.72. This trade represents a 14.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 6,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $934,686.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 208,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,043,710.36. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,649,185 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Matson

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Matson during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Matson in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Matson during the first quarter valued at $71,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE MATX traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $153.18. 124,024 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 271,519. Matson has a 12 month low of $93.94 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.14 and a 200-day moving average of $134.15.

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 business had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.73 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. Matson’s revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.40 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.31%.

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.