Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Short Interest Down 21.5% in November

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

Matson Price Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $153.08 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson has a 12-month low of $93.75 and a 12-month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Matson will post 13.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stephens upped their target price on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,745 shares in the company, valued at $2,109,297.50. This trade represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. This represents a 9.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,649,185 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 43.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 4,361 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in Matson by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 75,070 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,832,000 after purchasing an additional 17,992 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 98.1% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,044 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 4,973 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 93.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 11,234 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $559,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.