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

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,240,000 shares, a growth of 51.8% from the November 30th total of 816,600 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 253,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total value of $124,125.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total transaction of $79,339.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $686,000.04. This represents a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,145 shares of company stock worth $2,513,455 over the last quarter. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Matson by 4,167,726.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 958,600 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $136,716,000 after acquiring an additional 958,577 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Matson by 126.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,117 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $31,448,000 after purchasing an additional 134,092 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Matson by 52.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 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 worth $30,445,000 after purchasing an additional 77,731 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in Matson during the third quarter worth about $6,735,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX traded down $2.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.54. 114,543 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 272,737. Matson has a twelve month low of $100.50 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $148.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.98 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $965.73 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business's revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Matson's payout ratio is 11.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Matson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

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.