Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard P. Isotoff Sells 492 Shares

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $79,339.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $686,000.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX traded up $6.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $166.03. The company had a trading volume of 555,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,089. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $89.08 and a one year high of $166.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.27.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced 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 during 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 company’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.40 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after purchasing an additional 215,452 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Matson by 3,509.3% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,233,000 after purchasing an additional 183,676 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 126.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $31,448,000 after acquiring an additional 134,092 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Matson by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 356,416 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,680,000 after purchasing an additional 122,017 shares during the period. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP lifted its position in Matson by 50.2% during the second quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 232,455 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,445,000 after buying an additional 77,731 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MATX. StockNews.com cut shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

About Matson

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.