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

Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 723,200 shares, a decrease of 21.5% from the October 31st total of 921,800 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 292,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research cut shares of Matson from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stephens lifted their price target on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, EVP Rusty K. Rolfe sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.97, for a total transaction of $497,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,871 shares in the company, valued at $3,629,929.87. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. The trade was a 9.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,649,185 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $153.18. 124,024 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,931. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $145.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06. Matson has a 12-month low of $93.94 and a 12-month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $3.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Matson will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.34 dividend. 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 currently 11.31%.

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.