Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Matson (NYSE:MATX) Stock Price

Matson (NYSE:MATX) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $150.00 to $160.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the shipping company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.10% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MATX. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Up 4.2 %

NYSE MATX opened at $149.39 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $139.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.01. 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 company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.05. Matson has a one year low of $100.50 and a one year high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Research analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Matson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Matson by 0.5% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Matson by 0.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Matson by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Matson by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.