Short Interest in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Declines By 24.8%

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 962,700 shares, a decline of 24.8% from the March 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 353,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their price objective on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the third quarter valued at about $249,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Matson by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,173 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,641,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $40,927,000 after buying an additional 26,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Matson Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE MATX traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $95.18. 3,884 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 299,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.91 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.46. Matson has a one year low of $91.48 and a one year high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. On average, analysts anticipate that Matson will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

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.