Matson (MATX) Competitors

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

Which has higher valuation & 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	$3.27B	1.80	$286.71M	$4.91	20.91
Matson	$3.09B	1.53	$297.10M	$12.02	11.90

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership 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. 1.5% 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, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer KEX or MATX?

Kirby currently has a consensus target price of $129.25, suggesting a potential upside of 25.87%. Matson has a consensus target price of $138.00, suggesting a potential downside of 3.49%. Given Kirby's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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)	4 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

Is KEX or MATX more profitable?

Matson has a net margin of 12.37% compared to Kirby's net margin of 8.78%. Matson's return on equity of 16.89% beat Kirby's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kirby	8.78%	9.71%	5.46%
Matson	12.37%	16.89%	9.54%

Does the media favor KEX or MATX?

In the previous week, Kirby had 12 more articles in the media than Matson. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Kirby and 4 mentions for Matson. Matson's average media sentiment score of 1.25 beat Kirby's score of 0.55 indicating that Matson is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kirby	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Matson	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in KEX or MATX?

Kirby received 264 more outperform votes than Matson when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.19% of users gave Matson an outperform vote while only 60.68% of users gave Kirby an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Kirby	Outperform Votes 537 60.68%	Underperform Votes 348 39.32%
Matson	Outperform Votes 273 62.19%	Underperform Votes 166 37.81%

Which has more risk and volatility, KEX or MATX?

Kirby has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kirby beats Matson on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.