Matson (MATX) Competitors

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) and Matson (NYSE:MATX) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, media sentiment, dividends, profitability, earnings, community ranking, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Do analysts rate KEX or MATX?

Kirby presently has a consensus price target of $123.80, suggesting a potential downside of 4.25%. Matson has a consensus price target of $135.50, suggesting a potential downside of 10.65%. Given Kirby's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Kirby is more favorable than Matson.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kirby	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Matson	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has higher valuation and earnings, KEX or MATX?

Matson has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Kirby. Matson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kirby, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kirby	$3.26B	2.27	$222.93M	$5.21	24.82
Matson	$3.09B	1.63	$297.10M	$12.02	12.62

Does the media prefer KEX or MATX?

In the previous week, Kirby had 10 more articles in the media than Matson. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Kirby and 13 mentions for Matson. Kirby's average media sentiment score of 0.77 beat Matson's score of -0.15 indicating that Kirby is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kirby	12 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Matson	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in KEX or MATX?

Kirby received 263 more outperform votes than Matson when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.10% of users gave Matson an outperform vote while only 60.73% of users gave Kirby an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Kirby	Outperform Votes 535 60.73%	Underperform Votes 346 39.27%
Matson	Outperform Votes 272 62.10%	Underperform Votes 166 37.90%

Do insiders & institutionals believe in KEX or MATX?

96.2% of Kirby shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Kirby shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Matson shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, KEX or MATX?

Kirby has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is KEX or MATX more profitable?

Matson has a net margin of 12.37% compared to Kirby's net margin of 9.37%. Matson's return on equity of 16.89% beat Kirby's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kirby	9.37%	9.43%	5.26%
Matson	12.37%	16.89%	9.54%

Summary

Kirby beats Matson on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.