Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Short Interest Down 7.8% in February

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX – Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the February 13th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 317,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 3.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Matson from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Matson from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Matson from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $64.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.18. Matson has a 12 month low of $58.06 and a 12 month high of $125.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Matson (NYSE:MATX – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The shipping company reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.13. Matson had a net margin of 24.50% and a return on equity of 49.26%. The firm had revenue of $801.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $801.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $9.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 36.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Matson will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, February 9th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 8th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, VP Kevin L. Stuck sold 2,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.48, for a total transaction of $186,244.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 4,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $308,248.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 103.7% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 41,147 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 20,947 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth $2,652,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 69.7% during the 3rd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 94,700 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,826,000 after acquiring an additional 38,900 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 960 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 7,756 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.55% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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Matson, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of logistics and transportation services. It operates through the Ocean Transportation and Logistics segments. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation, container stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, and other terminal services.