Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Short Interest Update

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 938,200 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the December 31st total of 1,110,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 250,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MATX traded up $0.52 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 233,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,182. Matson has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Matson's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the company'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 of the company's stock, valued at $2,109,297.50. This represents a 5.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total transaction of $497,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,629,929.87. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth $50,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth about $92,000. U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 339.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

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.